Thompson, Crawford lead Northwestern to 72-64 upset of No. 6 Purdue

Northwestern beats No. 6 Purdue 72-64

EVANSTON, Ill. — Michael Thompson scored 20 points and freshman Drew Crawford had a key 3-pointer and a three-point play in the final 2:04 Saturday as Northwestern beat No. 6 Purdue 72-64, the Boilermakers’ third straight loss.

Purdue (14-3, 2-3 Big Ten) has its first three-game losing streak since dropping five straight in 2006 at the end of coach Matt Painter’s first season.

E’Twaun Moore scored 24 points for Purdue and Robbie Hummel had 20.

Northwestern (13-4, 2-3) finally beat a ranked team on its home court for the first time in four tries this season after losing to Butler, Michigan State and Wisconsin at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The purple-clad fans stormed the court after the final horn to celebrate.

Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 2:04 left to push the Wildcats ahead by four. And after a Purdue miss, he drove through the middle for a layup and was fouled. His three-point play with 1:32 to go put Northwestern up 64-57.

Two free throws by Luka Mirkovic gave the Wildcats a 10-point lead with 54 seconds to go.

Hummel’s 3-pointer with 33.4 seconds left cut the deficit to six before the Wildcats ran out the victory when Jeremy Nash made two free throws.

Mirkovic finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Crawford had 15 points, 11 in the second half.

Northwestern opened a seven-point lead early in the second half. Purdue narrowed it to two before Purdue’s 6-foot-10 JaJuan Johnson picked up his fourth foul with just under 13 minutes to go.

Hummel’s steal and driving layup put the Boilermakers on top 46-44 with 10 minutes left but John Shurna answered with a jumper and Thompson’s two free throws gave Northwestern the lead back. Moore’s two free throws retied it with just over 8 minutes remaining.

Moore scored nine straight points for Purdue to keep his team within a point before Johnson fouled out with 3:49 to go.

Boilermakers guard Chris Kramer ended up on the court writhing in pain following a scramble for the ball with 5:37 left in the first half. He limped off the court, got treatment and was able to return, making a key steal and layup that got the Boilermakers within one at the end of the half.

Ninety seconds after Kramer was hurt, Hummel headed to the locker room holding a towel to the side of his head to stop bleeding after apparently being hit by an elbow. He re-entered the game with 3:47 to go in the half and seconds later hit his first basket of the game, a jumper from the baseline.

Hummel was already playing with a dislocated left pinkie, an injury he got late in Purdue’s 70-66 loss to Ohio State four days ago when he scored a career-high 35 points with eight 3-pointers. He had the injured finger taped to another one and managed five first-half points.