No. 20 Purdue rides huge first half to win over Northwestern

Field Level Media|published: Sun 5th January, 16:27 2025

Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) grabs a rebound over Purdue Boilermakers forward Caleb Furst (1) and Northwestern Wildcats forward Luke Hunger (33) Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, during the NCAA men’s basketball game at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind.

Braden Smith bundled 22 points with six rebounds and seven assists to help No. 20 Purdue beat Northwestern 79-61 on Sunday in West Lafayette, Ind.

Trey Kaufman-Renn and C.J. Cox added 12 points apiece for the Boilermakers (11-4, 3-1 Big Ten), who never trailed and led by as many as 29 en route to their third straight win. Purdue outshot the Wildcats 50.9 percent to 38.3 percent and held them to their fewest points this season.

Freshman Angelo Ciaravino scored a season-high 19 points to lead Northwestern (10-5, 1-3), which also got 11 points from both Jalen Leach and Brooks Barnhizer. Nick Martinelli, who entered Sunday second in the Big Ten in scoring (20.1 points per game), managed just 10 on 2-of-8 shooting.

The Boilermakers scored the game's first seven points and jumped ahead 11-3 on Kaufman-Renn's second early bucket in the paint. The Wildcats closed within three before the hosts rattled off nine straight, with Smith's 3-pointer from the left wing making it 20-8 with 11:29 left before halftime.

Myles Colvin's corner three put Purdue ahead 25-14 and ignited a 10-point surge that broke the game open for the Boilermakers. Gicarri Harris glided through the lane for a transition layup before Smith fed Caleb Furst for an easy dunk and a 29-14 lead. Smith capped the surge with another triple to push the margin to 18 with 5:42 to play in the first half.

Purdue expanded its lead in the final minutes with four straight makes, including two by Smith to give him 17 points for the half. The Boilermakers led 41-18 at the break after shooting 59.3 percent from the floor.

Triples from Leach and Barnhizer helped Northwestern get within 19 early in the second half before Colvin's trey sparked a nine-point flurry that gave Purdue a 54-26 advantage.

Snith converted a three-point play to give the Boilermakers their largest lead of the day at 63-34 with 11:21 left. Smith drew a roar from the home crowd less than a minute later with an alley-oop to Raleigh Burgess, whose two-handed jam made it 65-37.

Twelve late points from Ciaravino made the Wildcats' second straight loss a bit more respectable.

--Field Level Media