3 Thoughts From Purdue's 81-68 Win Over Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament
In this story:
CHICAGO — That was exactly the type of performance Purdue needed to start the Big Ten Tournament. The Boilermakers were dominant from start to finish, taking down Northwestern 81-68 in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Oscar Cluff and Trey Kaufman-Renn were outstanding in the post, Braden Smith was a wizard with the basketball in his hands and Fletcher Loyer knocked down some open shots to get things rolling.
Purdue advances to the quarterfinals with Thursday's win over Northwestern. Before we turn the page on this one, though, here are a few observations from the Boilermakers' win.
The ball movement was much better
In the first meeting between Purdue and Northwestern, the defensive pressure really affected the Boilermakers negatively. They had eight early turnovers and really struggled to get into a rhythm offensively.
That wasn't the case Thursday night.
Now seeing Northwestern's pressure for a second time, Purdue handled it much better. Smith got the basketball out of his hands quickly and the Boilermakers moved the ball around efficiently. It resulted in several open shots in the post for Cluff and Kaufman-Renn, as well as Loyer around the perimeter.
Last week, Purdue finished the game with 14 turnovers, resulting in 15 points for Northwestern. Thursday night, the Boilers had just seven turnovers for the contest.
Purdue prevented Northwestern's "other guys" from getting involved
Containing Nick Martinelli is a tough task. He's one of the top scorers in college basketball and continued to produce at a high level, scoring 25 points against the Boilermakers. But a big key for Purdue was not allowing the other guys to get into a rhythm.
It wasn't until the 13:54 mark of the second half that Jayden Reid knocked down a three, becoming the first player for Northwestern not named "Martinelli" to exceed four points. Purdue did a particularly good job of shutting everyone down in the first half, as the Wildcats went 0-of-6 from behind the three-point line.
Eventually, Reid found some confidence and finished the game with 19 points, but the game had essentially been decided by that point.
Martinelli was going to score points. It's something he's done all season, regardless of opponent. Purdue silencing the other Wildcats was a significant advantage.
Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff were dominant
Purdue had a major size advantage for this game, regardless of the situation, but Northwestern's Arrinten Page being sidelined didn't help matters. The Boilermakers took advantage of their size and physicality, getting tremendous production from Kaufman-Renn and Cluff down low.
Smith was looking for Cluff early, getting the 6-foot-11 center good looks at the basket and resulting in seven early points to set the tone. Kaufman-Renn got going a little bit later and ended the first half with nine.
At the end of the night, Cluff and Kaufman-Renn both scored 19 points. Cluff had 10 rebounds and Kaufman-Renn added six. It was exactly the type of outing Purdue needed from its bigs.
Get top Boilermakers stories, expert analysis, and can't-miss moments straight to your inbox for free by signing up for the Purdue Boilermakers on SI newsletter!
Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
Follow SchutteDustin