It had been a difficult stretch of games for Purdue basketball. Heading into Wednesday night, they had lost three of their last four, including Purdue being upset by Ohio State over the weekend.
It looked as if Purdue was heading to another upset loss against Northwestern, but a strong second half put them back in the win column, winning 70-66. After the game, head coach Matt Painter praised his team, speaking with Andy Katz of the Big Ten Network.
“You know, the start of the second half, obviously making some shots. CJ Cox made a lot of really big shots for us. Hung in there. We rebounded the basketball well. Martinelli is a hell of a player, it's a tough matchup for us,” Painter said. “But our guys hung in there. Braden makes his free throws down the stretch, made some plays there. You gotta hang in there, man—it's great to get a win.”
Purdue struggled early in the game, with multiple turnovers and poor first-half shooting. The Boilermakers committed eight first-half turnovers, while Nick Martinelli scored seven of his 28 points in the last two minutes of the first half. Three of the first half turnovers came from Trey Kaufman-Renn, who also spoke after the game, per Brian Neubert of On3.
“It was a really bad first half for me, personally, as far as fouling and making really bad reads,” Kaufman-Renn said.
Meanwhile, CJ Cox played great overall. He scored 27 points while having three rebounds and three assists. The sophomore guard was also the only Purdue starter who did not have a turnover.
“He was great. I’m happy for CJ. Sometimes he organically gets shots, and that’s kind of what happened,” Painter said. “He got 13 shots because that’s what they gave up while trying to take away TK, trying to take away Braden and Fletch.”
Purdue moved to 23-7 with the win, and 13-6 in conference play. That currently places them fifth in the Big Ten. They will finish out the regular season at home agaisnt Wisconsin on Saturday.
