Purdue Boilermakers vs Northwestern Wildcats Match Player Stats On Mar 09, 2019

Junior guard Carsen Edwards delivered a game-high 21 points as Purdue claimed a share of its 24th Big Ten Conference title with a 70-57 victory over Northwestern on Saturday afternoon in Evanston, Ill.

The 11th-ranked Boilermakers (23-8, 16-4) split the regular-season crown with No. 9 Michigan State, which rallied to beat No. 7 Michigan several hours later. Purdue also wrapped up the No. 2 seed and a double-bye into the quarterfinals of next week's Big Ten tournament.

Junior guard A.J. Turner posted 14 points to pace Northwestern (13-18, 4-16), which finished in the Big Ten's basement for the first time since 2007-08. The Wildcats own the No. 14 seed and will play Wednesday night in the Big Ten tournament's opening round.

Senior forward Vic Law (13 points, seven rebounds) swished a 3-pointer on the game's first possession for Northwestern, but Purdue needed less than two minutes to take the lead for good. Edwards sank his first two 3-point attempts -- something he had been struggling to do on the road -- to give the Boilers a 10-3 lead 3:06 into the game.

Northwestern edged within 22-20 on Law's jumper with 6:09 left in the first half, but senior guard Ryan Cline answered with a four-point play to trigger a 10-0 run for Purdue. That spree also included another four-point possession as Edwards and Cline hit two free throws apiece at the 1:50 mark thanks to a technical foul whistled on Northwestern coach Chris Collins.

Purdue owned a 33-25 lead at the break as Edwards posted a game-high 11 points despite missing his final five 3-point attempts. Law paced Northwestern with 10 points and six rebounds, but the Boilermakers outrebounded the Wildcats 25-15.

Purdue led by double figures much of the second half, though Northwestern made a run midway through when Turner hit a pair of 3-pointers and fed senior center Dererk Pardon (eight points) for a layup.

That 8-0 run pulled the Wildcats within 54-47 with 9:10 to go, but sophomore guard Nojel Eastern (15 points) responded with a pair of layups (one he turned into a 3-point play) and junior center Matt Haarms added a layup to restore the margin to 60-47.

--Field Level Media