March 3, 2007
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - David Teague scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in his final home game as Purdue defeated Northwestern 73-50 on Saturday afternoon.
Teague, who was held to two points Wednesday against Minnesota, bounced back to make 6-of-10 3-pointers on Senior Day. Senior Carl Landry had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Lutz added 14 points as Purdue (20-10, 9-7 Big Ten) kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive with its third straight win. The Boilermakers finished with a 16-1 record at Mackey Arena.
Kevin Coble led Northwestern (13-17, 2-14) with 15 points. Tim Doyle, who scored 26 points in the last meeting with Purdue, was held to eight.
Purdue coach Matt Painter has said all season that 20 wins might be the magic number to get his team into the NCAA tournament. The Boilermakers reached that mark by shooting a season-high 59.5 percent from the field and making 9-of-18 3-pointers.
The Boilermakers held the Wildcats to 31 percent shooting in the second half.
Purdue, which went 9-19 last season in Painter's first season as head coach, posted its best regular-season record since a 21-8 finish in 1999-2000 under Gene Keady.
Purdue swept the season series with the Wildcats. Teague scored 26 points when the Boilermakers won 75-68 on Feb. 24 in Evanston, Ill.
Northwestern has lost five of its last six games and its last five Big Ten games and clinched last place in the conference.
Purdue shot 58 percent from the field in the first half to take a 31-24 lead.
The Boilermakers opened the second half on a 7-2 run, but Northwestern shot back with an 8-3 run to trim Purdue's advantage to 41-36.
Purdue responded with a 21-3 run that included two 3-pointers by Lutz, two more by Teague and dunks by Landry and Gordon Watt to take a 62-39 lead with 5:50 to play.
Teague left to a standing ovation with 5:10 to play, and Landry did the same with 4:39 left.