Feb 15, 2003
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By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - All Purdue needed was a home game to shake off its first losing streak of the season.
Kenny Lowe scored 23 points as Purdue beat No. 14 Illinois 70-61 on Saturday night to snap a two-game losing streak.
The Boilermakers (16-6, 8-3 Big Ten) entered the game needing a victory to remain tied for the conference lead with Wisconsin and Michigan, both winners Saturday. Purdue was coming off losses at Minnesota and Northwestern, but seemed energized by only it second sellout of the season.
"It's a huge win for us," Purdue coach Gene Keady said. "If anybody can figure out how to win on the road, let me know."
Purdue can take another step toward its first Big Ten title in seven years when Michigan visits on Wednesday.
It could be the perfect setting for the Boilermakers, who improved to 13-0 at home. It was Saturday against the Illini (16-5, 6-4) as Purdue bounced back from two disappointing efforts on the road.
Unlike its loss to the Wildcats, Purdue produced down the stretch.
A 3-pointer by Lowe - who was 13-for-15 from the free-throw line - gave Purdue an 11-point lead with 5? minutes left.
Illinois slowly chipped away, with a layup by Brian Cook and a 3 by Deron Williams cutting the deficit to 56-53. The Illini would never get closer.
 | "When he can get cooking, he's hard to shut down." Willie Deane on Kenneth Lowe |
Willie Deane, the Big Ten's third-leading scorer, scored nine of his 10 points in the final two minutes, mostly from the free-throw line. With Purdue up by five, Deane stepped in front of a pass from Sean Harrington and was fouled.
He sank both free throws. Another steal by Purdue, this one by Brett Buscher, led to a three-point play for Deane that sealed the win. It was one of 19 turnovers for the Illini.
"I thought Buscher's steal was the breaking point of the game," Keady said. "Of course, Kenny's free throws was a tremendous part."
Cook, the conference's leading scorer, had 20 points but no other player reached double digits. The Boilermakers trapped Cook in the low-post, never allowing him to really get into a groove.
"We wanted to keep on pressing the ball and containing Cook," Purdue's Brandon McKnight said. "We had three players in the lane all the time so it worked.
The trapping and pressing flustered Illinois, which shot 37 percent in the second half and made only six of 23 3-pointers.
"We let their pressure bother us," Illinois coach Bill Self said. "We didn't attack their pressure. We didn't make them pay at all by pressuring us like I feel like good teams could. We weren't aggressive at all offensively."
 Guard Willie Deane scored nine of his 10 points in the final two minutes.  | |
The Boilermakers led by three early in the second half, when McKnight grabbed a defensive rebound and went end-to-end for a layup that energized Purdue and sparked a 13-3 run.
Lowe was fouled on a jumper and sank the free throw for three three-point play and a 48-39 lead. He would sink two free throws with 10? minutes remaining for a 50-39 lead, Purdue's first double-digit lead of the game.
"When he can get cooking, he's hard to shut down," Keady said of Lowe.
The game didn't look so promising at the start.
Keady decided to shuffle the starting lineup. He benched McKnight and center Ivan Kartelo for Darmetreis Kilgore and Matt Kiefer.
It backfired immediately. Without McKnight, one of Purdue's quickest players and a defensive stopper on the perimeter, Illinois torched Purdue from the outside.
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No Big Ten teams has a winning record on the road. Self said the Illini couldn't handle the frenzied atmosphere.
"It was a great crowd," Self said. "I think for the first time this year we got frazzled."