Late flurry lifts N'western past No. 1 Purdue again

EVANSTON, Ill. — Boo Buie scored seven of his 31 points in overtime to help Northwestern beat Zach Edey and No. 1 Purdue for the second straight season, winning 92-88 on Friday night in the Big Ten opener for each school.

Buie also had nine assists and four rebounds, rallying Northwestern from an eight-point halftime deficit. Ty Berry also scored seven points in overtime and finished with 21, and Ryan Langborg added 20 points.

The Wildcats (6-1, 1-0) became the seventh program since 2010-11 to beat a team ranked No. 1 in the AP poll in consecutive seasons. They topped the Boilermakers 64-58 on Feb. 12 for their first win against a No. 1 team.

Edey had 35 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, but Purdue (7-1, 0-1) had no answer for Buie when it mattered most.

Moments after the final seconds ticked off, Edey & Co. trudged off the floor as students stormed the court at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Northwestern went ahead to stay on Berry’s two foul shots with 2:09 left in overtime. Blake Preston forced a key turnover by stepping in front of Edey, and Buie and Berry each made two free throws in the final seconds to help close out the win.

Fletcher Loyer scored 17 points for Purdue, and Braden Smith had 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. The Boilermakers outrebounded the Wildcats 52-27 and went 31-for-41 at the line.

Buie got Northwestern back in the game after an uneven start. The fifth-year guard converted two three-point plays and made a turnaround jumper during an 8-1 run that lifted the Wildcats to a 48-47 lead with 14:54 to go.

That set up a tight, back-and-forth finish to regulation with neither team leading by more than three. Northwestern grabbed a 69-66 advantage on Luke Hunger‘s tiebreaking 3 with 4:43 remaining, but Edey made two foul shots to tie it again at 70 with 3:52 remaining.

Buie gave the Wildcats a 76-74 lead with a floater in the lane with 3.9 seconds left, but the 7-foot-4 Edey sent the game to the extra session when he grabbed Camden Heide‘s well-placed lob and scored inside with less than a second left.

Purdue put together an early 12-2 run and led 40-32 at halftime. Edey had 14 points and eight boards at the break, and Loyer made two of the Boilermakers’ four 3-pointers in the first half.