5 keys to Purdue's win over Northwestern

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Purdue annihilated Northwestern 74-43 in Big Ten Conference men's basketball play at Mackey Arena on Sunday. Here were five keys to the Boilermaker victory.

1. Bombs away

Purdue entered the game as the ninth-best 3-point shooting team in the league. However, it hit 5 of 6 (83.3 percent) of its long shots in the first half, and finished having connected on 7 of 15 (46.7 percent) of its attempts.

2. Working

The Boilermakers crushed the Wildcats on the boards, as the hosts out-rebounded Northwestern by a staggering 48-23 margin.

3. More work - plus some luck

Purdue held Northwestern to just 28.6 percent shooting (the Wildcats were 8 of 28 in each of the two halves). Both Wildcat coach Bill Carmody, as well as his Boilermaker counterpart, Matt Painter, felt Northwestern got some good looks offensively, they just couldn't finish the shots.

4. Offensive flow

Painter spoke afterwards of really being pleased with his team's offensive patience and ball movement. The Boilermakers had 18 assists on their 27 made shots.

5. Getting to the rim

The 'Brothers Johnson' drove "at will" according to Carmody. Purdue guard Terone Johnson finished with 22 points, while his younger brother, Ronnie, finished with 10. A number of the brothers' makes were on acrobatic and speedy drives to the basket.

Tdavis@news-sentinel.com