Edwards leads No. 16 Purdue past Northwestern, 69-65

EVANSTON, Ill. — With a regular-season Big Ten championship already locked up, Purdue wanted to send a few more positive notes to the NCAA Selection Committee.

Vincent Edwards scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half and Caleb Swanigan added 20 points and 14 rebounds to help No. 16 Purdue beat Northwestern 69-65 on Sunday.

Purdue (25-6, 14-4 Big Ten) clinched the outright regularseason conference title earlier in the week, but had to hold on in the final seconds to fend off Northwestern (21-10, 10-8) in front of a raucous sellout crowd.

Bryant McIntosh had 25 points and six assists for Northwestern. The Wildcats have lost six of nine.

“A lot of people wanted to downplay that we didn’t have a lot to play for. But anytime you get a chance to play an NCAA Tournament team on the road and get that kind of victory it is going to help your NCAA resume,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. Swanigan had his nation-leading 25th double-double. Swanigan’s dunk gave Purdue a 59-50 lead with seven minutes remaining, but the Wildcats answered with a 7-0 run. Sanjay Lumpkin’s putback got Northwestern to 60-59 with 3:14 left, but the Wildcats could never get ahead in the second half. Trailing 66-63, Nathan Taphorn shot an airball on a 3 with 15 seconds left and Purdue closed the game by going 3 of 4 from the foul line.

“It is very important. They are an NCAA Tournament team more than likely and going into the Big Ten Tournament we could face three NCAA Tournament teams in a row, so we want to beat those teams and add them to our resume and help us when it comes to tournament time,” said Swanigan.

Edwards has been able to exploit the Wildcats’ defense. Earlier in the season, he scored 17 points against the ’Cats.

As the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament, Purdue bypasses to the quarterfinals and plays Friday. Northwestern gets a bye and will play in the second round Thursday.