• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

No. 23 Purdue aims to keep Northwestern winless in Big Ten

Feb 16, 2008 - 11:30 AM No. 23 Purdue (20-5) at Northwestern (7-15) 4:00 pm EST

EVANSTON, Illinois (Ticker) - It's a matchup of first against the worst in the Big Ten Conference on Saturday when No. 23 Purdue travels to Northwestern.

The first-place Boilermakers (20-5, 11-1) have won 10 consecutive games in their quest for their first conference title since 1996.

Purdue is coming off Tuesday's 60-54 home win over No. 9 Michigan State, the only conference team to defeat the Boilermakers this season. That win came on the heels of a 72-67 victory at No. 14 Wisconsin.

"It's a great feeling," said freshman swingman Robbie Hummel. "We've put ourselves in position coming down the stretch in the Big Ten season. It's just a total team effort."

Hummel leads Purdue at 11.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Freshman guard E'Twaun Moore averages 11.2 points for the Boilermakers.

The Wildcats (7-15, 0-11) have been equally inept at home and on the road in conference play. Northwestern is 0-5 at home in Big Ten games and fell to 1-7 in its last eight outings following Wednesday's 65-47 loss to Ohio State.

Sophomore forward Kevin Coble leads the Wildcats with 15.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.