Dec. 14, 1996
Wheat Leads No. 22 Louisville Over Purdue
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- DeJuan Wheat scored eight of his 25 points during a late first-half run as number 22 Louisville remained unbeaten with an 88-72 non-conference win over Purdue.
The win was the Cardinals' fifth in 13 all-time meetings between the schools.
"We didn't do anything different tonight," said Louisville coach Denny Crum. "We always try and schedule tough because I have never been hung up on our record in December. We still have all of our tough games ahead of us."
Purdue (4-7) trailed 30-26 when Chad Austin sank a pair of free throws with 5:06 to play. But Louisville (6-0) went on an 18-5 run to close out the first half.
Matt Akridge nailed a three-pointer from the left corner. After a steal by Alex Sanders, Wheat's layup gave Louisville a 35-26 edge.
Sanders had another steal and dished off to Tony Williams for a layup. On the next possession, Wheat drained a three-pointer. After a foul shot by Purdue's Jaran Cornell, Louisville's Alvin Sims scored on a layup. Sanders followed with his third steal during the run and Wheat tallied another three-pointer as the Cardinals took an 45-27 lead with 2:40 to play.
"I was pleased with our performance in the first half," said Crum. "We got some steals and hit some shots. We had our fast break together and took advantage of our oppportunites. This was a step in the right direction for us."
Brad Miller had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Purdue (4-7), which had trailed by as many as 24 in the second half.
"I don't have much to say," said Purdue coach Gene Keady. "We (have) to cut down on our turnovers and we've got to quit giving layups."
LOUISVILLE (88)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
N Johnson 23 1-3 0-0 2-3 1 4 3
Dantzler 14 2-3 0-0 1-1 2 4 4
Sanders 23 4-8 3-4 1-3 5 3 14
Sims 27 7-13 0-0 2-6 5 1 14
Wheat 34 10-18 0-2 1-4 8 1 25
Smith 6 1-4 0-0 1-3 0 3 2
Farmer 1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
E Johnson 10 2-3 0-0 0-1 0 2 4
Mckinley 14 1-3 0-0 0-2 0 1 2
J Johnson 9 1-3 0-0 1-2 0 1 3
Williams 14 1-3 0-0 0-2 0 1 2
Akridge 6 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Flynn 19 3-7 6-6 0-1 0 3 13
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TOTALS 200 34-70 9-12 9-29 21 24 88
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Percentages: FG-.486, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
11-36, .306 (N Johnson 1-3, Sanders 3-5, Sims
0-3, Wheat 5-11, E Johnson 0-1, Mckinley 0-2, J
Johnson 1-3, Williams 0-2, Akridge 0-2, Flynn
1-4). Team rebounds: 7. Blocked shots: 5 (Sims,
Sanders, Smith, Wheat, E Johnson). Turnovers: 13
(N Johnson 3, Sims 3, Sanders 2, Wheat 2, E
Johnson, Farmer, Smith). Steals: 10 (Sanders 3,
Sims 3, Wheat 3, N Johnson).
PURDUE (72)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Cardinal 37 5-8 4-6 1-6 1 1 15
Cornell 40 8-13 3-6 1-1 3 3 20
Miller 37 4-11 12-14 6-11 3 3 22
Austin 36 2-10 2-2 1-3 2 2 6
Eldridge 39 4-10 0-3 3-7 3 2 9
Barnes 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Gilvydis 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Ten Dam 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
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TOTALS 200 23-53 21-31 12-28 13 11 72
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Percentages: FG-.434, FT-.677. 3-Point Goals:
5-14, .357 (Cardinal 1-2, Cornell 1-1, Miller
2-2, Austin 0-6, Eldridge 1-2, Barnes 0-1). Team
rebounds: 14. Blocked shots: 5 (Cornell 2, Miller
2, Cardinal). Turnovers: 20 (Austin 8, Cornell 4,
Eldridge 3, Barnes 2, Miller 2, Gilvydis).
Steals: 6 (Eldridge 2, Miller 2, Cardinal,
Cornell).
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Louisville 48 40 - 88
Purdue 31 41 - 72
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Technical fouls: None. A: 12,646. Officials: Tom
Rucker, Tom Oneil, Jim Petersen.