March 4, 2026; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Northwestern Wildcats forward Nick Martinelli (2) defends Purdue Boilermakers guard CJ Cox (0) during the first half at Wales-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Image CJ Cox scored 21 of his career-high 27 points after halftime and Trey Kaufman-Len had 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 15 Purdue to a 70-66 win over host Northwestern on Wednesday in Evanston, Illinois.
Purdue (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten) snapped a two-game skid by snapping a three-game winning streak from Northwestern (13-17, 5-14).
After Jordan Clayton hit a corner 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 66-65 lead with 1:03 left, the Boilermakers went on to take the lead on a Cox trey.
Purdue sealed the game at the free throw line, capitalizing on two key Wildcats turnovers in the last 36 seconds.
Wildcats senior Nick Martinelli, the conference’s leading scorer, scored 28 points in his final game at Welsh-Ryan Arena. But Cox had the hot hand against Purdue, going 10-for-13 from the floor, including 5-for-8 from long range.
Fletcher Loyer had 10 points for the Boilermakers. Braden Smith had nine assists and Oscar Clough contributed nine points and seven boards. Purdue beat Northwestern 29-15.
Jayden Reid had 16 points for the Wildcats, who were without guard Jake West (ankle).
Thanks to a 6-for-6 performance in the second half, the Boilermakers tied the game at 43 with 13:22 left. Cox made the score 9-0 with his second layup after the Boilermakers grabbed two offensive rebounds.
That set up a back-and-forth finish in a game that saw nine lead changes over the last 6:08. An Arrinten Page dunk on a Purdue turnover put Northwestern ahead by one with 1:57 to play before Smith made three free throws to give the Boilermakers the advantage again.
Northwestern forced eight turnovers and limited Purdue to 3-for-11 from long range to take a 34-25 advantage at halftime.
Reid and Martinelli paced the Wildcats with nine points each, with Martinelli scoring seven in the final 2 minutes and 6 seconds of the first half.
He hit a pair of free throws during a 13-0 Wildcats run midway through the first half, but the reserves also shined during the spurt. Clayton scored five points during the run.
Gicarri Harris connected on a 3 to snap a 5:47 scoring drought for the Boilermakers.
–Field level media
