February 4, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Carson Cunningham scored 23 points and Jaraan Cornell had 22 as No. 18 Purdue withstood a second-half rally by No. 14 Iowa for a 90-75 victory Thursday night.
Purdue built a 23-point lead in the first half, but the Hawkeyes cut the deficit to seven twice in the second period before Cornell helped the Boilermakers pull away with 12 points in the final 10 minutes.
J.R. Koch led Iowa (15-5, 6-4 Big Ten) with 20 points. Dean Oliver added 15, including 9-of-10 from the foul line.
Purdue (16-6, 4-4), which had lost three of its previous four conference games, forced 12 turnovers in the first 10 minutes and broke the game open with a 17-1 run. During one stretch, Iowa went more than five minutes without a field goal.
The Boilermakers, who scored only 50 points in a loss to Northwestern last Wednesday, made 17 of their first 23 shots, with many coming on fast-break layups after turnovers. Purdue shot 60 percent in the first half and led 52-38 at the break.
After Iowa closed to 65-58 midway through the second half, Purdue's Alan Eldridge blocked an attempted layup by Jacob Jaacks and Cornell followed with a 3-pointer for Purdue.
By HANK LOWENKRON
AP Sports Writer