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m e n ' s b a s k e t b a l l g o l d b o x e s l i n k t o g a m e s t o r i e s A Look Back At the last week of basketball BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com P urdue's run its Big Ten winning streak to three, and done so in most dramatic fashion, playing some of its best basketball of the season in the second half at Illinois, then rallying from a three-point deficit in the final 18 seconds to beat Penn State in Mackey Arena. Some thoughts on the Boilermakers' recent showings: S It's no coincidence that as Purdue's big men have played well, Purdue's played well. A.J. Hammons is becoming more as- sertive and consistent and his teammates are doing the best job they have all season involving him in halfcourt offense, though Penn State effectively denied him until the final play of the game. Flash Forward Opponent: Northwestern Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, Ill.) When: 9 p.m. Tuesday Notables: Northwestern is 9-10 overall and lost its first four conference games, but is coming off wins in two of its last three, the first over Illinois at home, the second a stunner at Indiana. … The Wildcats have been difficult to score against lately, as they held Illinois to just 43 points (only 15 in the first half) and the Hoosiers to 47 on their home floor. Michigan State beat the Wildcats in Evanston, but needed just 54 points to do it. … Conversely, Northwestern has a difficult time scoring. It's managed more than 51 points just once through six Big Ten games, and that performance came in a 93-67 loss at Iowa. … In Big Ten games, Northwestern is last in the league in scoring, foul shooting and three-point shooting and second-to-last in field goal percentage and rebounding margin. … Drew Crawford (15.1 points) does give firstyear coach Chris Collins a legitimate scorer, while guard Tre Demps has shown to be a clutch shooter in close games this season. … Big man Alex Olah is coming off an excellent defensive game against IU star freshman Noah Vonleh. Hammons has emerged as one of the Big Ten's top true low-post scoring threats and led Purdue's recent dominance on the boards. It's now outrebounded its last eight opponents, often convincingly. Meanwhile, backup Jay Simpson, as if from out of nowhere after he struggled for an extended stretch, has played the best he has all season, highlighted by his offensive rebounding and scoring against Nebraska and Illinois and his game-winning in-bound pass against Penn State, as he threw the dart to Hammons that led to the center going to the line with a second left to play in a tie game. So much of Purdue's aggregate talent and potential as a team is concentrated in its big men. It's starting to come out. S When opponents do crowd the lane or double Hammons, the Boilermakers must be careful. Their 16 turnovers were the No. 1 reason the Penn State game hung in the balance in its final seconds. That was Purdue's highest turnover total since the Butler loss on Dec. 14. S Not that they haven't done so already, but opponents from here on out will scheme to keep the ball away from Hammons, which Penn State successfully did. That will put the Boilermakers' shooters in better position to really make them pay, which they're doing at a higher clip than last season, but can still be better. Purdue's only shooting 32 percent in Big Ten play, down from its 34-percent overall success rate. j Tom Campbell Matt Painter consults with A.J. Hammons during the Penn State game, which sophomore won with a last-second free throw after he was fouled on an inbounds pass. GoldanDBlack express • volume 24, express 17 • 7