Foul trouble causes Boiler loss to Iowa

By Paul Trembacki
Sports Editor

The first thing Gene Keady wrote on the board in the locker room before Monday’s practice was "Be smart; be aggressive."

That was because his team didn’t meet that goal during Saturday’s 83-73 loss to Iowa.

"We got the ‘be aggressive’ part right, but we were kind of stupid on the other part on Saturday," said John Allison, one of three Boiler starters in foul trouble throughout Saturday’s game.

The team’s top two scorers, Rodney Smith and Kenneth Lowe, sat out for long periods of time and watched the Hawkeyes (14-2, 3-0 Big Ten) change a 4-3 deficit into a 17-4 lead that they would never lose. The Boilers (11-4, 3-1) never got closer than four points.

With Purdue making 27 fouls, Iowa attempted 41 free throws and made 35 of them, including 28 of 31 in the second half.

"Having three starters averaging double figures out for the majority of the first half doesn’t really help us," Allison said. "We’ve just got to avoid that at all costs."

The Boilers will get another chance to be smart and aggressive when they play Minnesota at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Minneapolis.

The Golden Gophers (13-3, 1-2) rely on their forwards. Four of Minnesota’s top five scorers are forwards, including Dusty Rychart, a 6-foot-8 junior who averages 14.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

Saturday, with the 6-10 Allison and 6-6 Smith absent in the post, Iowa junior forward Reggie Evans scored 17 points and tied a career high with 18 rebounds — 12 more than any Purdue player. Iowa forward Duez Henderson had 14 points — 10 more than he averages.

"It’s kind of hard (watching that)," Allison said. "When you see a guy who’s got a wide open layup, you want to make him earn those two points."

However, with Smith and Allison out, Iowa scored points with ease.

In order to prevent Minnesota from getting easy baskets, Keady plans to teach his players to control themselves.

Keady said the Boilers need to play defense with their feet and heads instead of getting in bad position and reaching.

"Let him make the mistake with bad judgment," Keady tells his players.

Smith, who had just 10 points in 26 minutes on Saturday, said the team needs to start playing off the referees. Smith, who sat out for 9:37 in the first half and watched Iowa take over, regrets committing two clumsy fouls in the first 1:08 Saturday.

"It’s important that I stay out of foul trouble because I play good post defense, I block shots and I’m one of the leaders on the court," Smith said. "If I’m not out there, all that just leaves the court and it’s hard for the other guys to step up and do those same things because they haven’t been in those situations before."

Lowe, a sophomore, led the Boilers with 15 points, but he said the Boilers weren’t themselves Saturday.

"It’s hard for us to play without our leader," Lowe said. "And Rodney’s definitely been one of our leaders in every way."

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Sports editor:
Paul Trembacki

Assistant sports editor:
Anne McLaren

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