Rapid Reaction: No. 20 Purdue dismantles Northwestern 79-61

Ugly is probably the best word for what that was.

Mackey Arena is one of the toughest venues for opposing teams in all of college basketball. For the Wildcats on Sunday, it was borderline impossible.

Uneasy from the tip, Northwestern (10-5, 1-3 B1G) sputtered, falling to the No. 20 Boilermakers (11-4, 3-1 B1G) 79-61. Purdue controlled the game’s entire flow, suffocating Northwestern’s offense with some classic Big Ten paint-clogging.

The Wildcats’ usual duo of Brooks Barnhizer and Nick Martinelli struggled. Barnhizer’s seven-game double-double streak came to an end as his 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists weren’t enough to overcome eight turnovers, while Martinelli’s ten points all came in the second half. The lone bright spot was Angelo Ciaravino’s career-high 19 points, providing a spark off the bench as Collins continues to look at his first-years for offense.

For Purdue, Braden Smith dominated. The point guard had a game-high 22 points, adding seven assists and six rebounds. Trey Kaufmann-Renn and C.J. Cox added to the scoring effort with 12 points each.

Purdue started hot with Cox taking a dish from Kaufman-Renn and cashing a wing three. A possession later, Smith slithered into the lane, nailing a step-back 13-footer for the 5-0 lead. After Barnhizer missed a short-corner jumper, Kaufman-Renn tacked on two more with a float shot from inside. Although a three-ball from Jalen Leach momentarily silenced the crowd, a pair of buckets from Smith and Kaufman-Renn gave Purdue an early 11-3 lead at the under-16.

Barnhizer muscled inside to break a roughly three-minute Wildcat scoring drought, before swinging a cross-court assist to Leach who buried his second triple. But Smith continued to ignite the Boilermakers’ attack, hitting a three over a late Ty Berry closeout to give Purdue a 14-8 advantage. Fletcher Loyer extended Purdue’s lead to nine, bumping off Luke Hunger at the rim for a tough and-one finish.

Smith sniped his second three out of the under-12, giving Purdue a 12-point lead. But Barnhizer stopped a 2:50 Northwestern scoring drought with a pair of free throws. After a K.J. Windham steal, Barnhizer found Justin Mullins in transition for a layup. Trailing 22-12, Leach hit his patented midrange pull-up, cutting the deficit to eight with 7:44 left in the first half.

After Myles Colvin sniped a corner three out of the under-eight, Gicarri Harris pranced down the lane for a sweet lay, forcing coach Chris Collins to call timeout with the ‘Cats trailing 27-14. Smith continued to make Northwestern’s defense look silly, getting Barnhizer to bite on a shot fake before dishing an easy dime to Caleb Furst under the basket for a two-hand slam. Smith then messed with Hunger, stepping away from the big man for his third trey of the afternoon.

With Purdue leading 32-14, Angelo Ciaravino hit a paint hook to stop Northwestern’s 3:34 scoring drought. But Loyer added those two points back to Purdue’s lead, hitting a midrange pullup to give the Boilermakers a 34-16 advantage at the under-four.

Ciaravino continued to provide offense for Northwestern, scurrying away from Smith to hit an off-the-window floater for two. Smith responded with a step-back elbow jumper over the first-year. Loyer kept Purdue’s backcourt rolling, tossing up a baseline layup to push Purdue’s lead to 21. Smith added two more courtesy of a fadeaway short corner jumper, giving the Boilermakers a 41-18 lead at the half.

Out of the under-eight, a dominant 19-4 run the rest of the half gave Purdue a commanding advantage as its defense stifled Barnhizer to four points and kept Nick Martinelli off the scoreboard on a combined 1-for-10 shooting. Without either of its dynamic duo firing, Northwestern was held to its lowest single-half scoring total of the season. The Boilermakers also won the first-half rebounding battle 18-15 as Smith’s 17 first-half points propelled Purdue early.

Northwestern found its three-point shooting stroke out of the locker room as Leach and Barnhizer nailed a pair of wing threes. But with buckets from Cox, Kaufmann-Renn and a triple from Colvin, Purdue kept its lead at 22 with 16:47 remaining. Cox proceeded to extend Purdue’s advantage to 51-26, finding nylon on a three-point heave over Matthew Nicholson.

Martinelli finally found the scoreboard with 14:59 left, hitting a push shot from in tight. Barnhizer added two on a second-effort layup as the ‘Cats continued to look inside for offense. But Kaufmann-Renn kept the ‘Cats at bay, dominating the paint with a put-back dunk and layup. Martinelli bounced off Camden Heide for two more at the rim, but the ‘Cats trailed 60-34 at the under-12.

Ciaravino continued to impress offensively with a corner three, but Smith showed why he’s one of the Big Ten’s best players. The point guard converted an and-one in tight before lofting a perfect pass to Raleigh Burgess for the alley-oop. Burgess tried to add two more, but after being blocked by Barnhizer at the basket, No. 13 raced down the floor, taking the transition pass from Martinelli and finishing for two. Kaufman-Renn tacked on two more, giving Purdue a 67-44 lead at the under-eight.

Even with Purdue controlling affairs, Ciaravino continued to find success scoring the basketball. The athletic first-year put back a Barnhizer miss for two, before canning his third three pointer. Windham added a left-sided layup off the run as Northwestern’s youngsters appeared unfazed by the deficit. With just over two minutes remaining, Windham sprayed forward an outlet pass to Ciaravino who cashed in a transition dunk.

Yet even with the first-years finding some success, Northwestern never got within striking distance as Purdue coasted to the 79-61 victory.

The Wildcats, now 1-3 in conference play, will look to bounce back at home next Sunday against No. 18 Michigan State.