November 27, 1998
NEW YORK (AP) - This one was one for lost causes, for games that seem hopeless and teams that seem helpless.
No. 14 Purdue looked lost for most of Friday night's Preseason NIT consolation game against No. 23 St. John's, careless with the basketball, and with no eye for the basket.
And then, quite suddenly, the teams reversed roles. The Red Storm fell apart down the stretch and allowed the Boilermakers to steal the game 70-69 on Jaraan Cornell's 20-foot jumper with 1.7 seconds left.
Except for the opening basket, it was the only time all night that Purdue led.
"I never had two halves like that," said Purdue coach Gene Keady, whose team trailed 41-25 at the half and by 18 early in the second half. "It was a big deficit to overcome and we needed this one."
The Red Storm used hot shooting by Ron Artest and Bootsie Thornton to build their big lead as Purdue shot poorly and did not take care of the basketball.
But then Tony Mayfield, Alan Eldridge and Cornell hit three straight 3-pointers at the start of the second half as Purdue began to find the range.
"In the second half, we were going to impress them coming out," Keady said. "We finally made some shots."
St. John's still had a 16-point lead at 56-40 when Greg McQuay got Purdue (5-1) rolling. The Boilermakers went on a 16-2 run that cut the lead to 58-56. McQuay had five of his 19 points in the spurt and Cornell hit another 3-pointer.
"He made some nice moves and played with some outside punch," Keady said.
St. John's (3-2) rebuilt the lead to 67-61 before a basket and two more free throws by McQuay made it a two-point game.
Now rattled, St. John's committed a 45-second time clock violation, turning the ball over with 1:18 to play. But Brian Cardinal lost the ball for Purdue and Lavor Postell's basket gave the Red Storm a four-point lead with 20.3 seconds remaining.
Eldridge's third 3-pointer of the half narrowed it to 69-68 and after Thornton missed a free throw, Purdue had one last chance. Cornell took advantage by hitting the winning shot from the left side.
"I tried to get to the baseline, and shot it with that much more arc," Cornell said. "I felt pretty good when I released it. I thought it might be a three, but I'll take it."
St. John's last-gasp shot by Artest missed the mark and Purdue had a win in a game that looked hopeless.
It was the second straight tough loss in the tournament for St. John's, which blew a 10-point lead in the last six minutes to No. 3 Stanford in the semifinals.
"I'm disappointed and frustrated but I guess this is the time to learn," said first-year coach Mike Jarvis. "We outplayed two very good teams. When we learn how to sustain what we have, we'll get important victories here."
Artest led St. John's with 20 points and Thornton had 18. Mike Robinson scored 12 for Purdue.
By HAL BOCK
AP Sports Writer