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EVANSTON, Ill. — With its outright Big Ten title already wrapped up, Purdue finished the regular season with a performance befitting a champion.
Playing amidst one of the most electric environments Northwestern has probably ever seen in its history, the 16th-ranked Boilermakers responded with a 69-65 win on the home floor of the almost certainly NCAA Tournament-bound Wildcats.
For Purdue — playing for NCAA seeding alone as it's already won the Big Ten and earned the No. 1 seed to its postseason tournament — this game mattered and the Boilermakers played accordingly.
Matt Painter's pre-game message was about just that.
"He told us, 'How would you play if you had to play for a share (of the title), to play for it outright? How would you play? How would your competitive nature be?'" forward Vincent Edwards said. "That's something that stuck with our guys in the huddle."
Edwards scored 25 points and Caleb Swanigan put an exclamation point on his regular season about 24 hours before he'll be named Big Ten Player-of-the-Year, finishing with 20 points, 14 rebounds and three assists.
The two exhibited distinct synergy in playing off one another.
After Edwards burned Northwestern to the tune of 17 points on 5-of-7 three-point shooting in Purdue's rout in the first meeting between these teams, he upped it this time around.
Purdue called for the versatile forward to be its primary entry man, using his shooting prowess from Round 1 to affect Northwestern. That created space for Swanigan as well as driving lanes for Edwards, who played one of the most authoritative games of his Boilermaker career, scoring off the dribble, out of post-ups and out of several hard cuts to the basket off his own entry passes.
"They were kind of in a bind. I was diving really quick or I was staying out. They were probably worried about last game, because I was (5-of-7) from three," Edwards said. "I could tell they were really emphasizing not leaving me, and left our posts down there one-on-one. They tried to get as many post feeds from me as we could and that made it easier on us."
Swanigan enjoyed one of his better passing games as a Boilermaker, hitting Edwards as the rim several times for easy buckets and going start to finish without a turnover for just the second time this season — the other being the Big Ten opener against Iowa.
"It was hard action to guard for them," he said of his dynamic with Edwards.
The forward tandem was excellent in Evanston and saw the Boilermakers through a harried final few minutes.
The Boilermakers led by nine with around seven minutes left, but Bryant McIntosh led the 'Cats back as part of a brilliant 25-point showing, but Purdue kept pounding the ball inside.
Northwestern got within just one with 3:11 left after Sanjay Lumpkin scored off an offensive rebound off a missed three that came off an offensive rebound of a missed three. The home team grabbed nine offensive rebounds on this day, outrebounding Purdue 34-31, and scored 14 points off them.
But after the Wildcats had downsized Purdue's lead by eight and the lively sell-out crowd of mostly Northwestern fans — that hasn't always been the case in soon-to-be-renovated Welsh-Ryan — erupted, Edwards got to the line for a one-and-one and made both, then Swanigan scored four straight.
Swanigan, though, missed after Northwestern got back within three and the Wildcats called timeout, using the opportunity to put senior shooting specialist Nate Taphorn in the game on senior night.
Though Edwards closed hard and got a hand up, Northwestern got Taphorn a great look from the right wing.
Airball.
Purdue rebounded and went to the line, where it sealed the game.
The Boilermakers closed the game out by going 7-of-8 from the foul line. That's been a common denominator among Purdue's big-time road wins this season — at Michigan State, Maryland, Indiana and now Northwestern — all close games in difficult environments.
Like those games, too, Purdue was able to wipe an early deficit, this one peaking at nine in the first half.
Dakota Mathias scored 12 first-half points, all while again muting important Northwestern forward Vic Law, who was 2-of-13, bringing him to a grand total of 2-for-20 in two meetings with Mathias this season.
Purdue won despite one of its season-long strengths — shooting — going AWOL. The Boilermakers were 4-of-19 from three, 0-for-9 in the second half. (Northwestern was 0-for-10.)
"I think it shows the grit in this team and the versatility in this team," Mathias said of Purdue winning anyway.
Purdue did a lot right this season, resulting in a championship.
It ended the regular season emphatically.
"Any time you have a chance to play an NCAA Tournament team and win on the road," Matt Painter said, "it helps your résumé."
That was on Purdue's mind Sunday.
"We're still trying to help ourselves for the NCAA Tournament," Swanigan said. "The season's not over. (The Tournament) is what we'll be judged on at the end of the day. We're not trying to lose in the first round. We're trying to put ourselves in the best position possible."
Sunday was a means toward that end, in an NCAA Tournament sort of game competitively, on a big stage. Purdue hopes to be playing on CBS a whole lot more the rest of the month. It acquitted itself well in its chance Sunday.
"It was a great basketball game in a great environment," Mathias said. "One of the best we faced all year, I thought."
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