Northwestern came close, but couldn't quite finish.
Dererk Pardon finished with 20 and 8 rebounds and 4 assists on 9-of-12 shooting, turning in an incredible performance, though he fouled out late, which hurt Northwestern inside. At the end of the game, Chris Collins's team just couldn't get the stops it needed in the second half.
Northwestern began the game up 6-2 early on, but a 12-0 Boilermaker run put the Wildcats in a hole.
Slowly but surely, NU team fought its way back. Led by 11-first half points from Scottie Lindsey and seven points from Isiah Brown off the bench, NU erased the early deficit to get to halftime tied at 33.