It’s hard to blame Northwestern fans for getting a bit too hyped as the clock wound down on their team’s upset of No. 1 Purdue on Friday night.
When the top ranked team in the country is about to suffer their first loss of the season on your court, well, it can be difficult to wait to celebrate. However the absolute last thing you want to do is rush the court too early.
The Wildcats fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston came oh so close to this faux pas.
As the clock ticked down on Northwestern’s 92-88 overtime victory against the Boilermakers, a handful of fans started to rush the court before the clock officially hit zero.
JUST A LITTLE EXCITED IN EVANSTON! @NUMensBball pic.twitter.com/fAEC53VW2T
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 2, 2023
Northwestern is lucky the situation didn’t get out of control. We’ve seen fans storm the court too early, draw a technical foul and cost their team a win.
Fortunately, when the real court storming began moments later, it looked like a pretty safe and fun time out there.
Down goes No. 1 Purdue!
Absolute scenes in Evanston as Northwestern pulls the upset pic.twitter.com/1FS7dPbR2r
— BetRivers Sportsbook (@BetRivers) December 2, 2023
Purdue might want to try avoiding Northwestern whenever the Boilermakers are ranked No. 1 from now on. This is the second straight year the Wildcats have upset Purdue in Evanston as the top team in the country.
Purdue as the AP #1 in recent years.
2021: Loss to Rutgers (+13.5)
2022: Loss to Rutgers (+12.5)
2023: Loss to Northeastern (+5.5) https://t.co/DKYzgavvyY pic.twitter.com/Y0bOIsyJFp— Covers (@Covers) December 2, 2023
Northwestern was a +180 home underdog on the moneyline while getting 8.5 points on the spread. Congrats to everyone who saw history repeating itself and grabbed those odds.
