Evanston, IL (Sports Network) - Reggie Hearn led all scorers with 26 points,
and the Northwestern Wildcats downed the Purdue Boilermakers, 75-60, in Big
Ten Conference play at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Jared Swopshire tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocks to help the
Wildcats (13-10, 4-6 Big Ten) rebound from back-to-back lopsided losses to
Michigan and Nebraska. Dave Sobolewski also scored 13 points and dished out
six assists, while Tre Demps scored 12 in the victory.
A.J. Hammons recorded a double-double off the bench with 19 points and 13
boards for the Boilermakers (11-11, 4-4), who were coming off a 37-point home
loss to Indiana earlier this week. D.J. Byrd and Anthony Johnson (eight
rebounds) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 and 11 points,
respectively.
The Wildcats never trailed in the contest as they shot a healthy 68 percent
from the floor in the first half, including an 8-of-12 effort from beyond the
arc (.667), to take a 43-29 lead into the break.
NU stretched its advantage to as many as 21 points at the 12:45 mark of the
second half. The Boilermakers were never able to get the deficit down to
single digits the rest of the way, as they were held to 26.2-percent shooting
over the final 20 minutes.
The Wildcats had an impressive 24 assists on 26 field goals for the game to
notch their fifth straight win in the head-to-head series.
GAME NOTES:
The Sports Network