By Paul Trembacki
Sports Editor

It was a lot tougher this time but Purdue, with a strong bench contribution, completed a sweep of its season series with Iowa Wednesday night in Mackey Arena.

On Feb. 5, the Boilers (18-7, 9-3 Big Ten) played one of their best games of the season, led by double digits for almost the entire game and whipped the Hawkeyes (11-13, 4-8) 84-58.

On Wednesday, however, Purdue played one of its ugliest games of the season — never leading by more than nine — but still pulled out a 67-59 win.

It was a sloppy game, but the Boilers were able to overcome their poor assist-to-turnover ratio and poor (37.5 percent) first-half shooting.

With the Boilers making more turnovers (13) than field goals (nine) in the first half, they needed a strong effort from the bench and got one.

"(The bench) kept us in the game," said sophomore forward Rodney Smith. "They were instrumental. They weren't holding anything back. They were just coming out and making plays."

Smith, who started for the third straight game and scored 11 points, said he remembers the problems in coming off the bench but said teammates Chad Kerkhof, Kenny Lowe, Adam Wetzel and Maynard Lewis — who combined for 12 points and nine rebounds — handled their roles well.

"Coach (Gene Keady) had enough confidence to put us in, and he knew that we wouldn't choke," said Lowe. "We all practice hard every day. Coach always tells us, 'You're one play away from starting.'"

Lowe, Lewis and Kerkhof were able to see significant minutes because senior guard Jaraan Cornell played only 25 minutes — well below his average — and scored no points while making four turnovers.

Brian Cardinal led Purdue with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and senior Mike Robinson added 11 points and six rebounds.

Iowa center Jacob Jaacks had somewhat of a redemption game. After scoring only five points and fouling out with more than seven minutes to play in the Feb. 5 contest, Jaacks opened and closed the first half with 3-pointers as the Hawkeyes closed the half on an 11-0 run over the final 3:45 to take a 28-25 halftime lead.

It was Purdue freshman center and Iowa native Adam Wetzel, however, who did the most atoning. Although Jaacks scored 18 points to lead the Hawkeyes before fouling out with 58 seconds left and Wetzel had only five points, Wetzel's points were keys to the Boiler win.

In the second half, with the score tied at 34, Wetzel — who in the last meeting with Iowa fouled out with no points — hit a turnaround jumper with 14:37 left in the game to give Purdue the lead for good. He then scored Purdue's next three points giving him a total of five — his highest career output for a Big Ten game.

"(The spurt) was good for the team as far as coming in and providing a lift," said Wetzel.

The team needed a lift in an otherwise poor performance. With 22 turnovers and only 11 assists, Keady and the players labeled the game as "sloppy" and "ugly."

"If we're going to play well in the Big Ten, we're going to have to win ugly games," said Cardinal. "That's what we did tonight; we won an ugly game."