Jan. 20, 2001
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Rodney Smith scored 27 points and Purdue made three 3-pointers in a three-minute span to break a close game open Saturday in beating Northwestern, 78-59.
John Allison added 17 points as Purdue (12-5, 4-2 Big Ten) snapped a two-game losing streak.
The Boilermakers' 14-point lead at one point was whittled to three with 14:01 left in the game.
Purdue led 36-24 early in the second half, but Collier Drayton's 3-pointer started a 12-3 Northwestern (7-11, 0-6) run, capped by another Drayton 3-pointer that brought the score to 39-36.
Then Smith, Maynard Lewis and Austin Parkinson each made 3-pointers as Purdue stretched the lead to 49-38. Smith added another 3-pointer at the 10:27 mark for a 57-41 lead, and NU got no closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
Purdue was 6-of-13 from 3-point range.
Both teams were abysmal from the floor for most of the game, with neither team shooting over 30 percent in the first half.
For the second time in as many outing, Northwestern gave Purdue a big cushion that proved to be enough. The Wildcats spotted the Boilermakers the game's first 13 points and saw it extended to 16-2 -- ironically, exactly the same score that Purdue started with in their first meeting on January 6 in Evanston.
And as they did last time, NU chipped away. Jason Burke's 3-pointer and a layup by Tavaras Hardy cut the gap to 25-17 with 5:40 remaining. Each team scored five points the rest of the way to give Purdue a 30-22 edge heading into the locker room.
Northwestern will be back in action Wednesday night, hosting No. 3 Michigan State in the first of three home games. Tipoff at Welsh-Ryan Arena is set for 7 p.m.