LIVE BLOG: Follow No. 1 Purdue Basketball at Northwestern in Real Time

No. 1 Purdue basketball (23-2, 12-2 Big Ten) hits the road for a matchup against Northwestern (17-7, 8-5) at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. Here is our live blog, which will keep you up to date on all the news in real time, straight from press row.

D.J. Fezler | Feb 12, 2023

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EVANSTON, Ill. — We're on-site for No. 1 Purdue basketball's road matchup against Northwestern on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Boilermakers are 7-1 on the road this season.

The Wildcats are among several teams jostling for position in the Big Ten standings. They've won their last two games, claiming road victories over Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Purdue's talented freshmen Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer will go toe-to-toe with a veteran Northwestern backcourt duo of Boo Buie and Chase Audige. Smith and Loyer are scoring a combined 24.4 points per game on the road this season.

Welcome to our live blog, where we'll keep you updated in real time with all the news and views as they happen, straight from press row. We'll add highlights and opinions as well. The most recent items are on the top, so just keep refreshing.

We do this every game, so make sure you bookmark BoilermakersCountry.com, our Sports Illustrated/FanNation site that provides coverage of Purdue basketball and more. It's all free too; there is no paywall or subscription.

Purdue faces another Big Ten road test as the regular season winds down. Follow along below for updates throughout the game:

***All Times Central***

3:16 p.m., FINAL — Northwestern 64, Purdue 58

3:15 p.m. — The turnovers have killed Purdue at the end of this game. Northwestern is poised to take the win on its home floor after closing the matchup on a 12-1 run.

3:07 p.m. — Chase Audige drills a 3-pointer for Northwestern, and Purdue trails by two points with 1:31 left to play. The Wildcats are on a 7-0 run over the last minute and a half, putting in their last four shots.

3:05 p.m. — Purdue's lead is now one point after Brooks Barnhizer knocks down a pair of free throws.

3:02 p.m. — Chase Audige with five unanswered points for Northwestern, and Purdue's lead is now just three points with 3:15 left in the game. Audige is 4-of-13 from the floor and 2-of-10 from the 3-point line, but he hits a big one for the Wildcats. The Boilermakers look to answer after a timeout.

2:58 p.m., UNDER 4— Zach Edey is now up to 24 points, and Purdue leads Northwestern 55-47 with 3:43 remaining. The Boilermakers and Wildcats have hit a combined three of their last 22 shots.

2:57 p.m. — Ethan Morton checks back into the game with 4:30 to play.

2:55 p.m. — Zach Edey has 12 of Purdue's 16 points in the second half. But he picks up his third foul of the game on the other end of the floor.

2:53 p.m. — Zach Edey and Caleb Furst battling underneath the basket to get an offensive rebound away from Northwestern. Edey throws the ball off a Wildcat player to keep possession. Great effort.

2:49 p.m., UNDER 8 — Brandon Newman gets a wide-open look from the 3-point line but is unable to knock it down. Purdue has missed nine straight from deep after starting the game 5-of-9 on the perimeter. The Boilermakers lead 49-45 with 7:41 to go.

2:46 p.m. — Ethan Morton called for his fourth foul of the game with 9:18 still to play. He'll have to sit on the bench for a while. Boo Buie has a game-high 22 points for Northwestern.

2:43 p.m. — Ethan Morton breaks down the Northwestern defense, spinning away from his defender for a tough bucket.

2:40 p.m. — A hard foul on Mason Gillis after a Purdue turnover. He collided with Boo Buie before he had a chance to go up with the basketball. The call is elevated to a flagrant one.

2:36 p.m., UNDER 12 — Purdue leads Northwestern 47-42 with 11:53 left to play. The Wildcats already have six fouls in the second half. The Boilermakers are 14-of-17 from the line so far today.

2:29 p.m. — Northwestern calls a timeout as Purdue goes ahead 47-39. Zach Edey has scored the team's last eight points, including back-to-back shots. He has a team-high 18 points on 5-of-6 shooting and is 8-of-11 on his free throw attempts.

Based on his reax, we think Zach Edey liked this @BoilerBall And-1 dunk. pic.twitter.com/IMKftYZGoj
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 12, 2023

A personal 8-0 Zach Edey run since the Northwestern students started chanting “overrated” pic.twitter.com/1iScctvPQm
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 12, 2023

2:22 p.m., UNDER 16 — Purdue has a 41-36 advantage with 15:52 left to go. The Boilermakers are 14-of-16 from the foul line so far in this game. Zach Edey is just 2-of-3 from the field, so drawing fouls will be huge in the second half.

2:20 p.m. — It's been all Northwestern to start the second half. Purdue's lead is cut to three points after Chase Audige drills a 3-pointer. Zach Edey is fouled on the other end of the floor and gets both his free throws to fall.

The Boilermakers have scored four points from the foul line, but no field goals so far after halftime.

2:16 p.m. — Boo Buie is fouled on a fastbreak opportunity, and he hits one free throw before Northwestern comes down with an offensive rebound. Zach Edey blocks a second-chance shot from Buie.

1:54 p.m., HALFTIME — Boo Buie gets a basket to fall before halftime, but Purdue leads Northwestern 37-30 at the break. The Boilermakers made just two field goals in the final nine minutes of the first half but went 10-of-12 from the free throw line.

Zach Edey scored the final nine points for Purdue before halftime and has a team-high 10. Buie registered 13 points for the Wildcats.

1:50 p.m. — Northwestern takes a timeout with under a minute to play before the break. Purdue has missed its last five 3-pointers after starting 5-of-9 from deep. Seven different Boilermakers are on the board in the first half.

1:49 p.m. — Boo Buie has been the standout offensive player for Northwestern in the first half. No surprise there. He has 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Purdue has only led by double-digits once before halftime.

1:43 p.m., UNDER 4 — Purdue leads Northwestern 32-25 with 3:06 left to play before halftime. The Boilermakers haven't made a shot from the field in four-plus minutes. Luckily, a Wildcats scoring drought is nearing four minutes.

1:41 p.m. — Zach Edey ends the scoring drought by going 2-of-2 at the free throw line. Northwestern's student section chanted "overrated" as both attempts find the bottom of the net.

1:39 p.m. — Purdue hasn't scored in almost three minutes and has missed its last four shots from the field. Northwestern hasn't taken advantage though, and the lead is still five points for the Boilermakers.

1:36 p.m. — Zach Edey goes quickly to the basket off a feed from Ethan Morton to beat the Northwestern double team. Easy bucket in the paint.

1:32 p.m., UNDER 8 — Purdue has a 28-21 advantage over Northwestern with 7:45 left in the first half. The Boilermakers have yet to really separate themselves on the glass, and the Wildcats have six second-chance points on three offensive rebounds.

1:27 p.m. — A great find from Braden Smith as he cuts to the basket, hitting Ethan Morton at the top of the key for a wide-open 3-pointer. Smith gets the ball to Mason Gillis on the next possession, and he drills his third triple of the first half.

Three ball from Morton! 😮‍💨 @ethanmorton25 x @BoilerBall pic.twitter.com/NGTcKP5ydD
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 12, 2023

1:26 p.m. — Trey Kaufman-Renn gets to work in the paint, getting a nice jump hook to fall at the front of the rim.

1:22 p.m., UNDER 12 — Purdue leads Northwestern 18-14 with 11:52 left before halftime. The Wildcats are 0-of-3 from the 3-point line but are still hitting on 58% of their shots to keep the game close so far. Boilermakers are 6-of-12 from the floor.

1:18 p.m. — Braden Smith pulls from the 3-point line and drills it. Purdue is now 3-of-6 from deep to start the game.

1:17 p.m. — Back-to-back 3-pointers for Mason Gillis after he checked into the game. Purdue was on a 7-0 run before Boo Buie was able to get a high-arcing layup to fall off the glass.

Feel like we've seen @GillisMason get hot from deep before. 😉

No. 1 @BoilerBall is off to a hot start. pic.twitter.com/hWRnGpPckd
— Purdue On BTN (@PurdueOnBTN) February 12, 2023

1:15 p.m. — Zach Edey goes 1 for 2 at the line, and Northwestern can't get a 3-pointer to fall on its next possession. Mason Gillis gets his first bucket of the game, hitting from deep in the right corner.

1:12 p.m., UNDER 16 — Zach Edey is fouled going up to the rim, bringing us to the first media timeout. Purdue and Northwestern are knotted up 6-6 with 15:48 left to play in the first half.

1:11 p.m. — Fletcher Loyer gets downhill and gets a layup to fall. Zach Edey did a nice job clearing space underneath the basket so Loyer didn't have as much traffic to run through.

1:09 p.m. — Braden Smith has the first miss of the game for either team in the opening minutes. He grabs an offensive rebound to give Purdue a second chance, but Fletcher Loyer comes up empty.

Tipoff — Northwestern wins the tip and takes the opening offensive possession. Chase Audige finds Matthew Nicholson cutting to the basket for an open dunk. But Purdue follows with back-to-back baskets by Caleb Furst.

Purdue starters:

Freshman guard Braden Smith
Freshman guard Fletcher Loyer
Junior guard Ethan Morton
Sophomore forward Caleb Furst
Junior center Zach Edey

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