Big Ten reprimands Chris Collins, fines Northwestern $5,000 after ejection vs. Purdue

The Big Ten has announced its punishment against Northwestern head coach Chris Collins after his ejection vs. Purdue. He was ejected in the final seconds of overtime in the game, which the Wildcats lost 105-96 at Mackey Arena.

Northwestern received a $5,000 fine and the conference reprimanded Collins under its sportsmanship policy. In the announcement, the Big Ten said both punishments stem from Conference Agreement 10.01, which states the Big Ten “expects all contests involving a member institution to be conducted without compromise to any fundamental element of sportsmanship. Such fundamental elements include integrity of the competition, civility toward all, and respect, particularly toward opponents and officials.”

Collins emphatically voiced his frustration with a call as overtime was coming to a close. He walked out onto the court to share his displeasure with official Courtney Green, and he immediately received a technical foul and ejection with 1.7 seconds left in the game.

An assistant coach walked Collins off the court as he raised his arms at the Purdue fans in the stands cheering his departure. In addition, on his way to the locker room, Collins shook hands with Matt Painter and some Boilermakers players as part of a de facto “handshake line.”

Mason Gillis then headed to the line to shoot the technical shots after the calls on Chris Collins and Boo Buie, making them all to extend the Purdue lead to 105-96, which held as the final score.

After the game, Collins said he was trying to avoid a fine, but pointed out the free throw difference between Purdue and Northwestern that night. The Boilermakers went to the line 46 times while the Wildcats shot just eight free throws.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a disparity like that in a Big Ten game,” Collins said, via ESPN. “I mean, I feel like we were aggressive, too. But Boo [Buie] doesn’t shoot a free throw in the game? It’s kind of crazy, but that’s how the game is called.”

Inside the box score: Purdue defeats Northwestern

Northwestern was hoping lightning would strike twice after the ‘Cats upset then-No. 1 Purdue at Welsh-Ryan Arena earlier this month. It looked like they’d have a chance, taking a five-point lead with 2:38 left to play in the second half. But the Boilermakers – in front of a packed house at Mackey Arena – didn’t back down and kept things close down the stretch to force overtime.

Purdue then proceeded to outscore Northwestern 24-15 in the extra period to come away with the 105-96 victory. It was quite the night for the offenses as both teams shot better than 56% from the field. However, Purdue did quite a bit of damage from the free throw line, making 29 of 46 attempts from the stripe – including an 8-for-17 showing from Zach Edey, who led the charge with 30 points and 15 rebounds in 42 minutes of action. Lance Jones also added 26 points.