Livescore
Northwestern capped off a wild weekend of chaos in college basketball with an upset Sunday over No. 1 Purdue 64-58 inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. Northwestern had lost 11 straight games vs. Purdue and lost nine straight when Purdue was ranked in the matchup, with its last win over a ranked Purdue team coming at home in 2010. It’s the Wildcats’ first-ever win in program history over an AP-ranked No. 1 team and likely solidifies its standing as an NCAA Tournament-worthy team in the process.
The Wildcats, who trailed for most of the game, closed on a 12-1 run over the final three minutes to cool the red-hot Boilermakers in just their third loss of the season.
“I’m just so proud of the guys,” said Northwestern coach Chris Collins through tears in a postgame interview on Big Ten Network. “We weren’t making shots, but we just stuck with it. To coach in the Big Ten, it’s really hard.”
“We’ve went through so much adversity these last couple years,” added Collins’ son, Ryan, who is a manager for the team. “Just to see a win like this — that’s why I’m crying right now. It’s so incredible for the program and just for us as a family.”
Northwestern, which was 0-18 in games vs. No. 1 ranked teams all time, was a projected No. 9 seed in Jerry Palm’s bracket headed into Sunday. However, the win — its third straight in league play to improve to 9-5 in the Big Ten, tying it for second in the regular-season race — may have all but officially locked in its credentials as a team headed to the tourney this season.
Collins has steadily rebuilt the Wildcats since taking over the program in 2013-14, culminating with its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017. In recent years, the Wildcats have given ground in the Big Ten with five consecutive losing seasons coming in to 2022-23. At 18-7 overall, though, Collins again appears to have Northwestern on track to get back to the Big Dance thanks to one of the most important wins in the history of the program.
“Our guys, through all the negativity, they just kept coming back, kept fighting,” said Collins. “They deserve a moment like this.”
Player of the Year frontrunner Zach Edey of Purdue managed yet another big stat line, finishing with 24 points and eight rebounds, but non-Edey Boilermakers in the second half went a combined 1-of-14 shooting from the field that aided Northwestern’s come-from-behind win. In the final frame, Boo Buie had 13 of his 26 points and Chase Audige scored all 15 of his points.
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