Boilers look to build momentum

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Purdue forward Robbie Hummel (4) drives to the basket against Northwestern forward John Shurna (24) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Evanston, Ill., on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. Purdue won 58-56. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Updated: March 13, 2012 10:40AM

Consider Purdue’s narrow loss at No. 3 Ohio State a moral victory.

But, especially at this stage of the season, the Boilermakers also need actual victories, including on Sunday night against Northwestern at Mackey Arena in a matchup of teams in serious NCAA Tournament case-building mode.

The Boilermakers (15-9, 5-6 Big Ten) were encouraged by their improved performance against the Buckeyes. But they’re also keeping it in perspective as they prepare for the Wildcats (15-8, 5-6).

“We gave up 87 points, and got outrebounded by 10, and we lost. Sometimes when you shoot the ball well and you play better than you did — you have to make sure we keep the facts straight, and the facts straight are we lost,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “We can build off playing better, but it wasn’t good enough.”

Purdue was just good enough to edge Northwestern 58-56 on Robbie Hummel’s late basket on Jan. 28 in Evanston. In that game, the Boilermakers started a small lineup with Hummel as the nominal center.

Their lineup against the Wildcats in the teams’ second game was not certain, after they had seniors Lewis Jackson and Ryne Smith come off the bench at Ohio State. A unit of Hummel, D.J. Byrd and Kelsey Barlow — Byrd and Barlow were the catalysts against the Buckeyes — with Smith and Jackson back as starters would seem to be a distinct possibility.

Late this week, Painter was weighing the options.

“I’d consider anything,” he said. “We want to do a better job of starting the game. So when we sit down and meet, and continue to practice this week, we’ll try to put the team out there that’s best to get us off to a good start.

“Those two (Jackson and Smith) didn’t deserve to start the game (against Ohio State). I thought they both responded, and they both played well. And that’s all you’re trying to get — you’re trying to get guys to play better and doing the things they’re capable of doing. Both of those guys are good players. We need them to play like seniors, and the other night they did a better job of that.”

Purdue will try to get back on track at home, having lost three of its last four games, last winning on Jan. 17 against Iowa.

“It feels like we haven’t won a game here in forever, so we definitely want to get back out here and set the tone early,” Hummel said.

“We’re basically getting down to make-or-break time. If we want to make the Tournament, we have to get on a roll, and start making some moves.”

Said Jackson: “We made the right direction steps against O-State, even though it was a loss. We can’t lose from here on out — you don’t want to, but that’s our mind frame.”

Indeed, with three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Boilermakers will try to gain momentum.

“There are a handful of teams in our league that are in a very similar position as we are,” Painter said. “We have to be able to separate from other people, and obviously they feel the same way. The way you separate is being consistent and playing hard, and playing to your strengths and, in these last seven games, have a lot of wins.”