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Purdue looks to keep Northwestern winless in Big Ten

Jan 15, 2009 - 11:41 AM No. 19 Purdue (12-4) at Northwestern (8-5) 7:00 p.m. EST

EVANSTON, Illinois (Ticker) -- It took 19th-ranked Purdue a bit longer than expected to register its first win of the Big 10 season.

The Boilermakers will look to keep Northwestern winless in conference play when they visit Welsh-Ryan Arena Thursday.

The preseason favorite to capture the Big 10 crown, Purdue (12-4, 1-2 Big Ten) was slowed by injuries while dropping its first two conference games. But the return of preseason Big 10 Player of the Year Robbie Hummel propelled them to a victory over Wisconsin Sunday.

Hummel scored 16 points off the bench and JaJuan Johnson recorded his second double-double in three games with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Purdue also saw the return of guard Chris Kramer, who missed a 67-64 loss to Penn State after spraining his left foot late in an overtime loss to Illinois.

Northwestern (8-5, 0-3) has lost three of its last four, including a 29-point rout at Wisconsin last Wednesday. The Wildcats shot 31 percent (16-of-51) in the loss, including 3-of-17 from behind the arc.

Kevin Coble and Craig Moore, the Wildcats' top two scorers at 14.1 and 13.4 points per game respectively, scored just nine points apiece and combined to shoot 2-of-10 from 3-point range.