Nov. 2, 2000
Junior center John Allison and sophomore guard Willie Deane combined to make 15 of their 19 field goal attempts to lead the Purdue Boilermakers to a 96-79 exhibition victory here Tuesday evening against Athletes In Action in men's basketball.
Deane, who was making his first appearance in a Purdue uniform after transferring from Boston College, came off the bench to lead the Boilermakers with 19 points, hitting 8 of 11 field goal attempts, including 3-for-3 from three-point range in just 16 minutes of action. He was one of six Purdue players in double figures.
Allison, a 6-foot-10, 240-pounder, finished with 18 points, 12 of which came in the first half as Purdue took a 43-42 lead at intermission.
The home team blew the game open midway through the second half, going on a 37-9 run and turning a 51-50 deficit at 16:51 into an 87-60 lead at 5:49. During that stretch, Purdue hit 15 consecutive shots, including 5-for-5 on three pointers, and Deane scored 13 of his 19 points. For the game, the Boilers made 38 of 61 field goal attempts for 62.3 percent.
Other Purdue players in double figures were sophomore Kenneth Lowe with 12 points, juniors Rodney Smith and Maynard Lewis, and freshman Brett Buscher with 10 each. Reed Rawlings, a former player at Samford, led AIA with 22 points as the Athletes dropped their first game after four straight victories on the current tour.
"I couldn't be happier with the way this turned out tonight," said Purdue Head Coach Gene Keady. "It shows we've made some progress and answered some of the questions we had."
Keady's team, which lost four starters from last year's NCAA "Elite Eight" team that posted a 24-10 record, has just one senior on the roster, starting point guard Carson Cunningham, who was limited to just 13 minutes of action as he recovers from off-season knee surgery.
Purdue's second exhibition game of the season will be Nov. 15 when the Harlem Globetrotters come to Mackey Arena for an 8 p.m. EST contest.