Cats’ Corner: Your source for NU athletics

By Matthew Forman

Among the many frustrated and disappointed Northwestern fans, athletic director Jim Phillips’ expression said it all.

As an official signaled for a foul with 8.2 seconds remaining, Phillips stood motionless.

How did they let this one slip away?

A shocked Phillips was responding to the foul on sophomore guard Michael Thompson. As the ball was thrown inside, Thompson tried to support in the post as Purdue forward JaJuan Thompson started backing towards the basket. Thompson was whistled for a reach-in foul.

Just eight minutes prior, the Wildcats led by eight, 51-43. Now, as Johnson stepped to the line, the score was tied at 61.

Johnson sunk both shots from the line, extending the final margin to 63-61. But the foul call was only the culminating event in a series of devastating turns in the waning minutes. In the last 6:50 of the contest, the Cats were outscored 20-7.

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By Adam Fusfeld

For the first 35 minutes of Thursday’s game, the Purdue faithful were silent. Suddenly, with their team trailing by five, the visiting fans had reason to cheer.

Boilermaker guard Keaton Grant hit a 3-pointer to push the score to 57-52, bringing the game as close as it had been since early in the first half.

With that shot, momentum was slipping away from the Wildcats.

“They’re a top 20 team, so they’re going to make a push,” junior forward Kevin Coble said.

Northwestern held an 11-point advantage with as little as eight minutes remaining in the game. But No. 19 Purdue did not stop pushing until it erased the deficit and walked away from Welsh-Ryan Arena with a 63-61 win.

“We did a pretty good job of withstanding their push,” he said. “But we have to push back and make sure that we shut them down and put them away.”

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Coming off a three-point win over Wisconsin, No. 19 Purdue has fought through injuries to Robbie Hummel and Chris Kramer. Sophomore guard E’Twaun Moore has been Mr. Consistency for the Boilermakers, averaging 14.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

The Daily’s Matt Forman talked with the 6-foot-4 star at Big Ten Media Day.

Daily Sports: You went 10-of-15 from the field for 28 points against Northwestern in Evanston last year. Was there something about Welsh-Ryan Arena that made you comfortable?

E’Twaun Moore: I definitely like the environment. I’m from East Chicago, so it’s almost kind of a home game for me. It’s not really that far from my house, so a lot of family came to see the game. It was definitely a comfortable environment. I really liked it.

DS: Given that you played so well in Welsh-Ryan Arena, what’s your favorite arena to play in the Big Ten?

EM: Of course, home. I always say home. We always get that extra advantage. It’s starting to get a lot more attention, an improved student section. Hopefully they’ll be our sixth man.

DS: Last year you shot .434 from 3-point range. Now that the NCAA has moved the 3-point line back one foot, what will it do to college basketball?

EM: I think it’ll help spread the game out. I think it’ll be a positive thing for the game. It’s not going to clog the lane up as much. I think it’ll be good.

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By Danny Daly

Northwestern put up another tough fight against a top opponent at Welsh-Ryan Arena, but once again it was not enough as the Wildcats fell to Purdue 67-57 in overtime on Sunday.

Season-best performances from senior forward Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton and junior guard Jodi Howell helped the Boilermakers (11-5, 4-1 Big Ten) evade the upset, less than a week after toppling then-No. 4 Texas. Wisdom-Hylton had her sixth double-double of the year, pouring in a season-high 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Howell made all seven of her shots in regulation and tallied 18 points, three times her season average.

Since the Cats have played so many close games thus far, the Boilermakers figured they would be in for one as well.

“Coming in here, we knew it would be a dogfight,” Howell said.

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