Boilers hope for quick start against Minnesota

By Paul Trembacki
Sports Editor

Gene Keady said his players have had problems getting motivated to play teams that they beat easily last year.

But the players, coming off their first conference loss of the season, an 83-73 decision to Iowa Saturday, don’t think that will be the case when Purdue takes on Minnesota tonight in Minneapolis.

"We always have that hunger after a loss that we want to win again," center John Allison said. "Especially after what happened Saturday, I think we’re going to be a lot more focused and a lot more determined."

The Boilers (11-4, 3-1 Big Ten) and Gophers (13-3, 1-2), who met twice last year with Purdue winning both games by a combined score of 171-140, tip off at 8 tonight in the unfriendly confines of Williams Arena.

An "Inside Sports" poll rated Williams Arena, a.k.a. The Barn, as the third-best collegiate basketball arena in the nation behind Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium and UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion.

Keady, however, doesn’t think the atmosphere at The Barn will pose problems for Purdue’s veterans.

"I don’t think it’s going to be a problem," Keady said. "It’s tough wherever you go in the Big Ten. It’s going to be loud and noisy and they’re going to be after you. They have fun up there and they get after you.

"It’s just one of those things you’ve got to fight through," said Keady.

Guard-laden Purdue will also have to try to match up with the forward-laden Gophers.

Minnesota’s main scoring threat is 6-foot-8 Dusty Rychart, a junior forward who averages 14.9 points per game.

Allison, a 6-foot-10 junior, anticipates having to match up with Rychart.

"Minnesota’s a scrappy team, so it just depends on who’s guarding who at the time," Allison said.

Minnesota had 7-foot-1 Joel Przybilla to dominate in the post last season, but he left as a sophomore after last season and is now playing for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA. Now, however, the Gophers rely on the quickness of their forwards, and as a result, four of the team’s top five scorers are forwards.

Allison hopes he and forward Rodney Smith can score in the post early and often.

"We’ve just got to come out early and take their crowd out of it and try to put them away early," Allison said.

In eight of their 11 wins, the Boilers have come out with double-digit leads early in the first half.

Minnesota coach Dan Monson agreed that the game’s onset is perhaps the most important part.

"We can’t afford to fall behind early if we’re going to have success," Monson said. "Being at home, we’ve got to capitalize."

Minnesota has fallen behind in both of its conference losses, which were at Illinois and at Ohio State. A slow start is ominous for Purdue also. All four of Purdue’s losses were the results of slow starts.

A win tonight will give Keady a total of 800 for his 37 1/2-year career, which includes seven years at the high school level, eight years at the junior college level, four stints as the head coach of USA Basketball and 22-plus seasons as an NCAA Division I coach. However, he’s more concerned with his team.

"This is a big week for us," said Keady, who is 488-214 as a Division I coach. "We’ve started well in the league and we want to keep it going."

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Sports editor:
Paul Trembacki

Assistant sports editor:
Anne McLaren

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