Northwestern finally broke out if its offense slump, but the Wildcats still couldn’t keep a loss from slipping through their fingers.

Pat Fitzgerald’s squad broke out of its slump early with 14 unanswered points to start the game. The Wildcats even carried a 16-7 lead into halftime, but things slowed down after the break.

Northwestern surrendered the lead in the third quarter with Purdue scoring 14 points in the quarter. That pushed the Boilermakers to a 21-16 lead.

After the game, Fitzgerald highlighted the response by the Wildcats. Though the team still lost, he felt the ability to fight back and recapture the lead was a big moment.

He went on to say that for the Wildcats the goal is simply to finish the year strong. While that sounds nice, it is tough to determine what that looks like. The Wildcats are currently 1-8 with games left against UMass, Minnesota, and Illinois. How many of those games will Northwestern win?