Feb. 12, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Jaraan Cornell and Mike Robinson scored 17 points each to lead Purdue to a 77-58 win over Northwestern Saturday.
Carson Cunningham added 16 and five assists for Purdue (17-7, 8-3 Big Ten), which defeated Northwestern for the 19th time in the last 21 meetings between the teams.
Ben Johnson scored a career-high 26 points for Northwestern (5-18, 0-10).
Johnson sank a 3-pointer from the wing and two jumpers in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second half to help Northwestern cut a 13-point halftime deficit to seven at 46-39 with 15:41 left in the game.
But then Purdue went on an 11-2 run capped by Maynard Lewis' steal and breakaway layup with 11:11 remaining to take a 57-41 lead.
Aaron Jennings and Tavaras Hardy scored consecutive baskets in the next minute to pull Northwestern to within 12. But Cardinal and Cornell triggered a decisive 13-2 run with close-range baskets and the Wildcats got no closer than 16 the rest of the way.
Purdue outrebounded the Wildcats 33-29 and scored 34 points off 21 Northwestern turnovers.
Northwestern trimmed an early 13-point deficit to four in the first 10 minutes of the game. But the Wildcats missed eight straight shots and committed five turnovers during a 6:50 span as Purdue mounted a 15-2 run to restore its double-digit lead.
The Wildcats got as close as nine in the last five minutes of the half, despite Northwestern coach Kevin O'Neill's first technical foul of the season. Two free throws by Cardinal and a jumper by Cunningham in the final 33 seconds lifted the Boilermakers to a 13-point halftime lead.