WNUR’s Sam Levitt is on hand at Welsh-Ryan Arena tonight. Here are his thoughts from the 1st half of action between Northwestern and Purdue. 

– Northwestern trails Purdue 23-21 at the break in Evanston.

– Surprise, surprise. Northwestern is involved in another low scoring affair. These types of games are becoming the trademark of NU’s season.

– Purdue came out shooting the ball well. That’s a drastic change from the way teams have been playing against Northwestern over the past two weeks. NU’s defense still remained solid, holding Purdue to only just over 34% shooting and 23 points.

– It was a tough first half for Alex Olah. He picked up two fouls before the under-4 timeout and went 0-3 from the field. He then had to sit down for the final six minutes of the half. It’s obvious at this point, but it’s very important for Alex Olah to have success in the post in order for NU to have success as a whole on offense.

– Olah and Northwestern did a nice job holding Purdue center AJ Hammons in check for most of the first half. Hammons missed his first five shots, but had 4 points after Olah exited the game.

– What more can you say about Sanjay Lumpkin’s defense? He had another block in the first half against Purdue that led to an easy transition layup for Northwestern. Lumpkin had 3 blocks against Michigan State last week and continues to be tenacious defensively on the interior.

– Northwestern’s JerShon Cobb had a great half, hitting one tough shot after another. Cobb still has the ability to create his own shot from anywhere on the floor, even with defenders draped all over him. Cobb went 3 of 6 from the field and led NU with 9 points in the half. As per usual, he was also very active defensively on the perimeter.