When fans at a basketball game paint letters across their chests to spell out a word, it's usually the name of their school or its star player.
A group of Northwestern students went with something a bit more meaningful Tuesday night when the Wildcats hosted Purdue. They painted themselves to spell out the phrase "Stand With Purdue," a classy gesture referencing the shooting that happened on the Purdue campus earlier in the day.
A gunman shot and killed 21-year-old Purdue student Andrew Boldt inside the school's electrical engineering building. Suspect Cody Cousins, a 23-year-old fellow electrical engineering teaching assistant, reportedly was arrested after surrendering to police outside the building.
Nick Medline, publisher of PurpleWildcats.com, tweeted Tuesday night that he tried to approach the Northwestern students with "Stand With Purdue" on their chests in hopes of landing an interview.
Wrote Medline, "They didn't want the attention. Cool stuff."
Alas, the Northwestern basketball team wasn't nearly as kindly toward Purdue as its student section was. Drew Crawford scored four of his game-high 19 points in the second overtime and blocked Purdue's final shot as the Wildcats defeated the Boilermakers 63-60 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Northwestern's upset snapped a three-game Purdue win streak and left the Boilermakers at 13-6 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten entering the toughest part of their schedule. The Wildcats have won three of four since an 0-3 start to conference play.
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