Purdue hopes to stop Iowa
 By
Seth Schwartz
Senior Writer
The Boilermakers will have to find a way to stop
the only player in the Big Ten who is averaging a double-double and
the conference’s second-leading scorer when they play Iowa at 2:30
p.m. Saturday in Mackey Arena.
Iowa’s junior college transfer forward, Reggie
Evans, is forcing teams to notice his presence inside, averaging 14.8
points and 12.3 rebounds per game. His scoring average is good enough
for ninth among Big Ten players, and he is the only player in the conference
averaging double digits in rebounds.
Purdue forward Rodney Smith, who is sixth in the
Big Ten in scoring with 16.4 points per game, complimented the versatile
forward, who can also shoot from outside.
"He’s been doing a great job on the boards
and that’s one of our biggest focuses all year — blocking
out," Smith said. "We’re going to have to really focus
on blocking him out. He’s a great offensive rebounder, and we’ll
just have to know where he is all the time when the shot goes up."
Purdue guard Kenneth Lowe explained that the Boilermakers
(11-3, 3-0 Big Ten) need to constantly have a body on Evans.
"I’ve seen (Evans) play a couple of times,
and I think he’s a great rebounder," he said. "There’re
a lot of teams that go right after the ball when the shot goes up, but
we’re just going to put a body on him for the whole game."
The Boilermakers are also mindful of former Indiana
foe and Arizona transfer Luke Recker, who is averaging 19.5 points per
game, second only to Penn State’s Joe Crispin, who averages 22.6
points per game.
Iowa point guard Dean Oliver, who last year led
the team in scoring (13.6 ppg), assists (4.2 apg), steals (62) and minutes
played (34.0 mpg), is the Big Ten's leader in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Purdue coach Gene Keady admits that the matchups
are not favorable for Purdue, but he said he thinks the Hawkeyes will
have trouble matching up with Purdue’s quickness.
"I think they’ve got good athletes,"
he said. "They’ve got some really good shooters. Evans has
really given them the inside game they need. They’ve got a freshman
center (Jared Reiner) who is really going to be a talented player when
he gets some time under his belt. I don’t know how they’re
going to match up with us. They’ve got to guard quickness, so it’s
going to be interesting."
Lowe, however, believes that the Boilers have good
matchups with the Big Ten.
"I think we match up pretty well with everybody
in the conference," Lowe said. "There’s not a team that
I’ve seen yet that we don’t match up with."
The Boilers are going into this weekend having
won their last three games, as well as 11 of their last 12. Purdue’s
confidence is high after a 73-67 victory over No. 17 Wisconsin Wednesday
night.
"It helps our confidence a lot," said
Smith. "The younger guys are getting in to see how it is in Big
Ten play, knowing that you’ve got to bring it every possession
and how important every possession is in the games."
With a win over Iowa (13-2, 2-0), which beat No.
7 Illinois by 16 Thursday, Purdue could move into the Top 25 for the
first time this season.
"Every game our confidence gets higher no
matter what because each game we’re getting better," said
Lowe. "We’re learning things that we’re doing or we’re
not doing. So I think that we take each game as a stepping stone while
trying to get better."
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