- Purdue improved to 20-2 overall and 9-2 in the Big Ten Conference with a 105-96 overtime victory over Northwestern.
- Purdue became the first team in the country to reach 20 victories. A year ago, Purdue was the first high-major program to reach 20 wins.
- The Boilermakers snapped a two-game losing streak to Northwestern and won for the seventh straight time at home against the Wildcats. Purdue is now 45-6 all-time against Northwestern in Mackey Arena.
- The last four games with Northwestern have been determined by six, six, four (OT) and nine (OT) points.
- Purdue has now won six straight games overall, all of them coming by at least eight points.
- Purdue has won 12 straight home games, the longest streak in the Big Ten. During the 12-game streak, Purdue has won by a total of 284 points (23.7 points per game).
- The win was Purdue's 13th quad-1 or quad-2 victory, the most in the nation by three wins.
- Purdue's 105 points were its most in a Big Ten game since scoring 107 against Rutgers on Jan. 18, 2016.
- The 201 combined points were the most in a game during the Matt Painter era and the most since Nov. 14, 1997, vs. LIU Brooklyn (W, 119-95).
- Over the last two years, Purdue is now 41-3 during the months of November, December and January.
- Purdue averaged 1.46 points / possession, the fourth-best total in school history.
- Purdue has won 119 straight games when scoring 90 or more points, dating to Nov. 26, 1987, vs. Iowa State.
- Zach Edey scored 30 points with 15 rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot. It marked his 13th career 30-10 game, the second most for a player nationally since the 2010-11 season (21 by South Dakota State's Mike Daum).
- Edey's nine career 25-15 games are the most for a high-major player in the last 15 years. Trayce Jackson-Davis and Oscar Tshiebwe had six each for second on the list.
- Edey moved into fifth place on the school's all-time career scoring list with 2,047 points. Dave Schellhase is fourth at 2,074 points.
- Edey surpassed 1,100 career rebounds and now has 1,102 rebounds. He moved past Michigan State's Draymond Green into seventh place on the Big Ten's all-time rebounds list (1,102).
- Edey set a school record by scoring in double figures for the 73rd straight game.
- Edey tied a school record with his 54th career double-double.
- Edey is now averaging 23.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.7 assists per game in all games played. In Big Ten play, Edey is averaging 24.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.8 assists per game, shooting 66.0 percent from the field.
- Braden Smith recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points, 16 assists and four rebounds.
- His 16 assists in a Big Ten game are tied for the most by a player in the last 15 years. The 16 assists are the second most by a Purdue player in school history and the most for a Boilermaker in the last 49 years. The 16 assists are the fourth most by a player in the country this year.
- Smith now has five games of 10 or more assists, the third-most 10-assist games by a Boilermaker in school history.
- In 11 Big Ten games, Smith is now averaging 10.3 points, 8.5 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game.
- Lance Jones' 26 points were a season high. Jones now has 1,794 career points. Jones went 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
- Fletcher Loyer went 3-of-5 from 3-point range and is now shooting 23-of-45 (.511) from 3-point range in Big Ten Conference play.
- Mason Gillis scored 14 points, making all eight of his free throw attempts. He also made two 3-pointers and Purdue is 34-4 when he makes multiple 3-pointers.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Zach Edey spent 40 minutes wearing down the Northwestern defense.
Then he took full advantage over the final five minutes Wednesday night.
The reigning national player of the year scored Purdue's first 10 points in overtime, finished with 30 points and 15 rebounds, and helped the second-ranked Boilermakers avoid yet another upset by leading them to 105-96 victory.
"It's kind of how we play," Edey said. "We attack the rim or we get rebounds and we do all those things. We get teams into foul trouble, so over time they're forced to go to some matchups they maybe don't want against me and we're able to exploit that."
Edey had plenty of help. Lance Jones scored a season-high 26 and Braden Smith had 11 points and 16 assists — matching the second-highest game total in school history. The Boilermakers (20-2, 9-2 Big Ten) won their sixth straight and became the first Division I team with 20 wins this season.
Northwestern coach Chris Collins drew a technical foul and was ejected with 1.7 seconds left when he walked onto the court, yelling furiously at one referee with the ball still in play.
After being restrained by one of his players, Collins calmed down and congratulated Edey and Purdue coach Matt Painter on his way off the floor, then gestured to the booing crowd to get louder. The Boilermakers were given four technical free throws just before the final buzzer.
"I'm not going to go into the officiating. We have great officiating," Collins said, noting Purdue took 38 more free throws than the Wildcats. "I just don't know if I've ever seen a box score like that."
Still, the Wildcats (15-6, 6-4) didn't make it easy with a harassing defense that wouldn't allow Purdue to pull away, and the Boilermakers helped by going 29 of 46 on free throws.
Boo Buie and Ty Berry each had 25 points for Northwestern, which led 78-73 with 2:37 left in regulation and had a chance to win it on Buie's 15-foot runner at the buzzer. But the ball bounced off the front of the rim, and then the 7-foot-4 Edey took over.
He opened overtime with a short hook shot, drew a foul on a dunk, made two free throws on Purdue's next possession and added two more dunks to give Purdue a 91-87 lead. Northwestern could only get as close as two the rest of the way.
Edey also had one block, falling two short of becoming the fourth Big Ten player with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 blocks.
Buie moved into second on Northwestern's career scoring list with his ninth straight 20-point game against a ranked opponent. He now has 1,936 points.
BIG PICTURE
Northwestern: Collins' squad understands how to challenge Edey better than any other Big Ten team. But after topping the nation's No. 1 team twice on its home court in the past two seasons, the Wildcats came up just short this time. Still, Northwestern remains one of the conference's top teams.
Purdue: The Boilermakers protected their home court again — thanks to Edey's late charge. They can't rely exclusively on the reigning national player of the year, but he's certainly a nice go-to option on an off night.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Purdue barely navigated the first of this week's two obstacles. The trickier part comes Saturday at No. 6 Wisconsin. Win that one, and the Boilermakers won't slide past No. 2 and could move up to No. 1.