Jan. 6, 2001
By RICK GANO
AP Sports Writer
EVANSTON, Ill.- Rodney Smith scored 21 points and John Allison had 18 Saturday, as Purdue jumped to a big early lead and then held off a second-half surge by Northwestern to beat the Wildcats 69-61.
The Boilermakers improved to 10-3 and 2-0 in the Big Ten, giving Gene Keady a victory in his 700th game as a Division I coach.
Northwestern, which never caught up after Purdue went on a 16-2 run to start the game, fell to 7-7 and 0-2 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats have lost 24 straight regular-season Big Ten games.
Aaron Jennings scored 15 points to lead Northwestern. Winston Blake, who missed a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute that could have cut the lead to four, finished with 12.
Northwestern was behind by 19 in the first half and trailed by 14 with eight minutes left after a dunk by Allison, who had 12 of his points in the second half.
Then the Wildcats, behind a trapping defense and a 3-pointer and two free throws by Blake, cut the lead to six with an 8-0 run.
But Maynard Lewis hit four free throws and Smith dunked on a baseline drive as Purdue regained a 10-point advantage with just under two minutes to play.
The Boilermakers could have put the game away, but missed seven straight free throws in the final minute of play before Allison finally hit one and Carson Cunningham made two.
Purdue smothered Northwestern with its early-game defense. The Boilermakers blocked four shots and Northwestern - which shot just 33 percent - didn't hit double figures until Tavaras Hardy dunked with 6:30 left in the half.
Smith, who made 17 of his points in the first half, scored on a variety of jumpers and dunks and the Boilermakers led by as many as 19.