Northwestern's Loss to Purdue Defined By Gut-Wrenching Mistakes

With roughly 17 seconds remaining and No. 15 Purdue leading Northwestern by two, Wildcats freshman Tre Singleton skyed above the Boilermakers for a critical defensive rebound. It appeared as if the 'Cats would have one last chance to tie or take the lead against their ranked opponent at home.

Instead, Singleton attempted to push in transition and fired a pass toward point guard Jayden Reid, who did not seem to realize the ball was headed his way until it was too late. The basketball deflected out of bounds off of Reid, and Purdue's Braden Smith subsequently iced the Boilermakers' 70-66 win with a pair of free throws.

Singleton's mistake stands out as the most glaring from Wednesday night's defeat, given the time and score, but it was far from the only one. Northwestern's struggles to convert on advantageous opportunities ultimately doomed the Wildcats.

"Forget about the last turnover, I honestly thought we cost ourselves 10 to 12 points in transition," head coach Chris Collins said after the loss. "Against good teams, you've got to be real careful. That's going to come back to bite you... They beat us, give them credit, but I really felt like our effort and the way we played was worthy of winning tonight. When you have that, and you don't win, it hurts a little bit more."

With the 'Cats up by four just over five minutes into the second half, Reid intercepted a cross-court pass and took off down the floor. Northwestern had a 3-on-2 advantage, but Angelo Ciaravino was unable to come up with the pass from Reid and lost the ball out of bounds.

Similar mishaps continued to plague Northwestern. Minutes later, Reid missed a fastbreak layup and Singleton was stripped after grabbing the offensive board. Star forward Nick Martinelli wasn't free of blame, either. The Big Ten's leading scorer somehow found himself wide open under the hoop shortly after, but whiffed on an easy floater without a defender anywhere close to him.

Ciaravino once again missed a golden chance when he couldn't corral a transition lob from Jordan Clayton, resulting in another empty trip for the 'Cats. On the very next possession, Arrinten Page had space under the basket due to a late rotation of Purdue center Daniel Jacobsen, but paused for a split-second too long and allowed the 7-footer to contest the shot.

Those missed opportunities could've given the Wildcats 10 points on easy or makeable attempts. Instead, Northwestern lost by four.

"That game tonight should've been won, 100%," Martinelli said. "It's on me and the other leaders on our team... You're gutted after so many of these games where we do the same thing over and over. We've got one more regular season game. You're gonna have to live with so much regret. It's all I'm really thinking about right now."

The 'Cats ultimately had two chances to tie or take the lead down the stretch. Martinelli couldn't find Page in the post and the ball rolled out of bounds, then Singleton missed Reid in the heat of the moment.

Only one game remains in Northwestern's 2025-26 season ahead of the Big Ten Tournament, a road clash at Minnesota on Saturday. The 'Cats have played their best basketball lately, winning three consecutive games before nearly knocking off the No. 15 Boilermakers, but it's largely too little, too late in a disappointing year for Northwestern.