Purdue will want to try and find its way into the right direction against Northwestern, which by all accounts has struggled at everything that matters this season. The Wildcats have struggled all season as their best win came against Indiana (ranked 41st on Kenpom) and have only managed four wins all season in the Kenpom top 100, but appear to have most of the answers against the Boilers. Purdue trailed by 10 points early in the second half, but came back with a burst from C.J. Cox to win 70-66.
Let’s take a look at “By The Numbers’” wins:
advertise
1,503 people
With 11 points, TKR reaches 1,503 career points as a Boilermaker and now sits just outside the top 25 and 26th. His scoring has dropped significantly this year, averaging 13.3 points per game compared to 20.1 points per game last year. If Purdue can play four or five more games, he could crack the top 20. Overall, TKR became the seventh player in program history to score 1,500 points, grab 700 rebounds and dish out 200 assists (Vince Edwards, Robbie Hummel, Brian Cardinal, Brad Miller, Todd Mitchell, Walter Jordan). In case you were wondering, Brayden Smith only had 25 fewer rebounds than the same score.
7
It wasn’t the B1G season Purdue wanted as they struggled with three losses at home in the B1G, but they performed well on the road. Purdue wins tie for best program 7 A road game this season, highlighted by their victory over the same Wisconsin team they faced on Saturday’s Senior Night. In fact, the Boilers have seemed better all season playing at neutral sites or on the road, which is a strange thing considering the home-field advantage McGee Arena has provided over the years.
27
C.J. Cox scored four of Purdue’s first six points, but he didn’t score more until time ran out in the first half. It was a typically efficient game from the sophomore, who averaged 8.0 points per game and had a season-high 18 points against Memphis. Then, the second half happened.
advertise
Cox was outstanding in the second half, and if not for Cox’s 21 points in the second half, Purdue likely would have been eliminated. That alone puts him just two points shy of his career high (23 points against Nebraska in 2025), but combined with Cox’s six points in the first half, he would set his career high at 27 point. Cox also hit the most important shot for the Boilers, giving the Boilers a 68-66 lead with less than 50 seconds left in the game. He’s averaging 8.7 points per game this season but has shot 11-for-23 from 3-point range over his last five games, or 47.8 percent.
1,020
With 9 assists, Brayden Smith now 1,020 His career assists are only 56 shy of Duke player Bobby Hurley’s NCAA all-time assists record of 1,076. He is currently fourth overall, with North Carolina’s Ed Cota in second at 1,030.
advertise
Can Smith reach Hurley’s goal? It will be up to Smith to get one or two of these 12 or more big assist games while picking up some much-needed wins in the B1G and NCAA tournaments. It looks like this:
3 games (minimum he could play): 18.7
4 games: 14 games
5 games: 11.2
6 games: 9.3
7 games: 8
8 games: 7
9 games: 6.2
10 games (max games: 5.6
14
Purdue nearly took advantage of the excellent rebounding advantage they had established (+14) with a 14 The turnover performance was highlighted by some very poor decisions. The Wildcats only committed seven turnovers, but they were unable to capitalize as those turnovers resulted in a scoring advantage of just 15-12. Fortunately for the Boilers, their performance is tied for second-worst this season as they have their most wins of the season with 15 against Iowa State.
advertise
What was the worst turnover of the night? Perhaps it was this very uncharacteristic turnover that led to Northwestern’s easy dunk with 2 minutes left in the game, giving Purdue a 62-61 lead. Smith dribbled to his left, coughed up the ball, then threw it back toward half court for a dunk.
