NU rebounds in a big way, drops No. 6 Purdue

Point guard Michael "Juice" Thompson was all over the court in the first half Saturday, scoring 10 of Northwestern's first 16 points and providing stellar ballhandling against Purdue's manic defense.

Thompson paid the price for it, though, by almost getting sick just before halftime - thank goodness for those TV timeouts.

Freshman forward Drew Crawford came through big time down the stretch with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer en route to scoring 7 of the Wildcats' final 11 points of the game.

The Naperville native paid for it with an inadvertent shot to the face delivered by an overzealous NU fan.

But in the end, all the pain was worth it as the Wildcats hung tough down the stretch for a 72-64 upset over No. 6 Purdue, a win that caused hundreds of purple people to storm the court - a rare sight in these parts over the years.

"Finally we had a nice game when all these fans are here," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "We hadn't had great support over the years; I hope this team continues to bring them in."

If they keep playing like this it won't be a problem.

Fresh off a tough loss at home to No. 13 Wisconsin, the Cats showed they're capable of bouncing back against an opponent ranked even higher. In fact, the last time the Wildcats beat a team ranked as high as sixth on their home floor was in 1979 against Michigan State.

"We knew we were capable of beating them, but we actually beat them," said Crawford, who finished with 15 points. "It's pretty cool. I got popped in the face after, but it was pretty cool."

Though the Cats committed 16 turnovers to just 6 for the Boilermakers, it was their rebounding acumen (42-23) that was the difference in this one, according to Purdue coach Matt Painter.

"The story of the game was Northwestern's ability to chase down long rebounds and dominate the glass," Painter said. I'm very impressed with Northwestern. I thought they played harder than us and were tougher than us."

Junior guard E'Twaun Moore, who came into Saturday's game averaging 20 points a game on the road this season, led all scorers with 24 points, and forward Robbie Hummel followed up a 35-point effort against Ohio State with 20 against the Cats.

Thompson - who reported he felt fine after the game and planned on sleeping quite well, thank you - led Northwestern with 20 points. Luka Mirkovic added 16.

"Since I got here I've watched other colleges where that happens," Thompson said of NU fans storming the court. "I've always wanted to be a part of it."

If they keep playing like this it may not be the last time.