Feb. 7, 2001
By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Sports Writer
MADISON, Wis. - Roy Boone outscored Purdue by himself in the first half and finished with 20 points in No. 16 Wisconsin's 73-54 rout of the Boilermakers on Wednesday night.
Kirk Penney added 17 points and Andy Kowske scored 14, his best output since scoring 21 in the season opener, and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Badgers, who led 45-17 at halftime.
The Badgers (15-5, 6-3 Big Ten) broke it open with a 26-3 first-half blitz - runs of 11-0 and 15-0 on either side of Joe Marshall's 3-pointer.
Boone, who scored 18 in the first half, had eight points in the run, which he capped with a steal and a dunk that left him left him posterior in the lane and the Boilermakers (13-8, 5-5) desperate and dumbfounded.
The Boilermakers sorely missed 6-foot-10 junior center John Allison, their leading rebounder and shot-blocker who was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right foot Monday.
Neither sophomore Adam Wetzel nor freshman Kevin Garrity adequately replaced Allison, who was named a captain by coach Gene Keady on Jan. 26.
Wetzel and Garrity weren't necessarily asked to produce like Allison, only to avoid costly mistakes. And they didn't, committing an offensive foul here and a turnover there that helped the Badgers build their 28-point halftime lead.
The 45 first-half points was one more than the Badgers had managed the entire night in their last game at the Kohl Center, a 58-44 loss to Butler that ended their 11-game home winning streak and made their first stay in the Top 10 in 38 years a short one.
Allison, out indefinitely, had started the first 20 games this season and leads the Boilermakers in rebounds (5.6 per game) and blocks (2.75). He's also third in scoring at 10.9 points.
Without him, the Boilermakers had no chance to stop their slide.
On Jan. 10, Purdue beat Wisconsin 73-67 and led the Big Ten at 3-0. Since then, the teams have gone in opposite directions.
The Boilermakers have lost four of seven and the Badgers, who were 1-2 at the time, have won five of six and are one loss behind league leader Illinois.
Keady was whistled for a technical in the first half for arguing too vehemently for a traveling call on Travon Davis, who fell over but kept his dribble and bounced the ball back to the top of the key.
Davis directed the Badgers' big first-half run after Mike Kelley went to the bench in foul trouble just 3:36 in and Wisconsin up 7-5.
Davis, a junior, had a career-high six assists.
In the second half, the Boilermakers went with four guards in the lineup and went on a 10-0 run themselves and cut the Badgers' lead to 60-45 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Carson Cunningham, who scored 14.
Wetzel's dunk off a missed free throw pulled the Boilermakers to 62-50 with 2:55 remaining, but Penney responded with his third 3-pointer and Purdue was forced to foul after that. The Badgers sank 8-of-10 free throws in the closing minutes.