Dec. 18, 2002
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By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Brett Buscher and Chris Booker each scored 15 points as Purdue beat Belmont 78-61 Wednesday night in Gene Keady's 700th game as the Boilermakers coach.
The Boilermakers (5-2) had a much easier time with the Bruins than they did in their loss to No. 6 Indiana on Saturday. They raced to a 23-8 lead and never faltered thanks to 52 percent shooting from the field.
Belmont (3-5) missed six of its first nine shots but pulled to 31-21 late in the first half. The Bruins trailed 35-22 at halftime, but Purdue opened the second with seven straight points and began to pull away.
Darmetreis Kilgore hit a 3-pointer, and Matt Kiefer made layups on consecutive possessions during a 12-2 run in the second half that pushed the lead to 24.
Willie Deane scored 12 and Kilgore 10 for Purdue.
Adam Mark led Belmont with 14 points and Adam Sonn added 12.
Keady is only the second coach in Big Ten history to coach his school in 700 games. The conference record is held by former Indiana coach Bob Knight with 901 games. Keady has 454 of his 492 career victories with the Boilermakers.
The Boilermakers are off to a 5-2 record for the fourth straight season. They've feasted on unranked opponents but are 0-2 against top 25 teams.
Purdue center Ivan Kartelo played for the first time since dislocating his right elbow on Dec. 3 against Xavier. He scored three points.