The new Welsh-Ryan Arena opened in for the 2018-19 season, but it never got this electric until tonight. It wasn’t until last February that Northwestern basketball recorded a win over a team ranked #1 in the AP Poll. Now, they have done it twice, and it was against Purdue both times.
It was an overtime game with 18 lead changes and 12 ties, but if you were there, watching it, it felt like 10x that number, in both cases.
Boy, this sure feels good again. pic.twitter.com/hhbTe0lEyL
— Inside NU (@insidenu) December 2, 2023
The Wildcats led for less than one quarter of the game, but they were up when it counted, as time expired, 92-88.
By any account, it was arguably the best atmosphere that the Northwestern basketball program has ever seen for a home game, new Welsh-Ryan Arena or old.
I’ve been covering the team since 2007, and I’ve never seen both portions of the student section, the Wildside, filled to the brim and as lively as this.
I’ve also never the entire Northwestern contingent of the arena singing the school fight song, word for word, with this much gusto.
Yes, there was a strong and loud Purdue contingent in The Welsh (as there is always a massive road team fan presence for every Big Ten conference game at the venue), but they were easily drowned out by the purple hearts.
“I think that we made a statement as a school,” Northwestern basketball coach Chris Collins said.
“In addition to academics) “we can have some fun. This atmosphere was as good as anything I’ve been in.”
In game with numerous heroes, Boo Buie led the way with 31 points, 9 assists, and most importantly, zero turnovers.
“To me, as good a performance as he’s had, and as any Northwestern player’s had in my time here,” Collins said of Buie’s performance tonight.
NU only committed three turnovers to Purdue’s 17. That is how they pulled off this massive upset, despite getting outrebounded by 25. Surprisingly, they won the points in the paint battle, 38-36, despite National Player of the Year award winner Zach Edey going off for 35.
I’m at a little bit of a loss for words because of what a war that game was,” Collins said of this instant classic.
“I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of college basketball… That game ranks right up there in terms of the highest-level game that I’ve ever been a part of.”
This was about as exciting as a very early season college basketball game can get. You could be a neutral, and still find a lot of emotional investment to be had in watching a game this enthralling.
“The crowd was amazing tonight,” said Northwestern guard Ty Berry, who had 21 points on 7-11 shooting, 3-5 from three.
“You’re tired, but then you just hear the crowd erupt. It makes you want to play even more, even when you don’t have anything left in the tank.”
A very unlikely hero was Ryan Langborg who entered the night shooting just 22% from three point range on the season, but went 4-5 from distance.
He had a chance to most likely ice the game down the stretch, as he intercepted a pass from Zach Edey to Lance Jones, while NU was up 73-70, but he could not convert the “pick six” with the give-and-go on the other end.
He was hard fouled on the lay-in attempt, sending the San Diego born Princeton transfer to the line. He missed both free throws, and Northwestern blew a chance to have a six point lead within the closing minutes.
Within seconds, Purdue was back up 74-73, and this sequence of events was perfectly indicative of just how this game went- numerous, seemingly instantaneous momentum swings.
Northwestern had a chance, again, to win in regulation, but you knew what Purdue was going to do when they needed to force OT, and had just three seconds to do it.
They got the ball, from half-court, to their 7’4″, 300lb alpha dog among alpha dogs, the Andre the Giant of college basketball, Zach Edey. He converted, but eventually, his 35 points and 15 rebounds were not enough.
The night belonged to Buie and his trademark floater shot, the one he says (during our exclusive with him this preseason) draws comparisons to NBA star Trae Young.
“I just try to make the right read every time,” Buie said of creating in crunch time.
“We have great players around me, so I’m going to pass if two guys are on the ball. That’s the way you’ve got to play basketball. It just creates havoc for the defense.”
He closed out the game with his floater, and the party was on. There was a premature court-storming, with 0.3 seconds left, as Langborg helped block out the people trying to rush the court, and they quickly returned to the stands.
But the clock would soon hit 00.00, and the full court storming was on to full effect! The party was on, and much of the crowd was still here well past midnight.
s unbelievable, so be able to get that win tonight… it’s good that they got to go out and do what they came out for.”
For Purdue, it is once again a loss in a high profile game where they were heavily favored.
For the Northwestern basketball program, they become the seventh team to beat the AP No. 1 in back-to-back seasons since 2010-11. Northwestern basketball is the third program to ever defeat the same AP No. 1 opponent at home in consecutive seasons, and first to do so while being unranked in both games.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.