The Exponent Online


03/04/02	Previous Edition 3/1

Seniors score double digits in blowout against Penn State

Stephanie Young/Senior Photographer

FAKE THE FUNK: Senior guard Maynard Lewis fakes a shot against the Penn State Nittany Lions Saturday. All four seniors on the Purdue squad scored in double figures in their 92-57 win.

By Doug Healey
Senior Writer

In their last game at Mackey Arena, Purdue's four seniors went out in style.

Each senior scored in double figures as the Boilers blew out last-place Penn State 92-57 Saturday afternoon in front of 12,571 fans.

"It was fun to see our seniors go out with notoriety and even scoring," said Purdue coach Gene Keady, whose team avoided its worst record in Big Ten history with the win and will be the No. 8 seed for the week's Big Ten tournament. "(The seniors) just played hard. It was a good end to the regular season that had some things I would like to forget."

The Boilers led 32-27 at halftime, but they opened the second half with a 21-2 run during the first 4:52 of the half. Purdue shot 63 percent (17-for-27) in the second half, including 54.5 percent (6-for-11) from behind the 3-point arc.

During that spurt, senior Maynard Lewis had eight of his team-high 17 points. He was 4 of 5 from the field in the second half, including 3 of 4 from beyond the 3-point line.

As a team, Purdue (13-17, 5-11 Big Ten) had a season-high 13 steals and forced a season-high 24 turnovers.

"We finally got pressure on the ball," said senior forward Rodney Smith, who had 11 points and six rebounds. "That allowed players to raid the passing lanes … we played great, the way we should have played all season."

The strong defensive performance came after a long week of defensive-oriented practices that focused on fundamentals.

"We finally bought into it," said senior guard Joe Marshall, who scored 16 points and had a career-high four steals. "Coach put it in our heads to play effective defense. We practiced defense four days straight. Maybe he found what would prove to us that we need to play defense."

Senior center John Allison scored 16 points, grabbed four rebounds and tied his season-high with four blocks.

"It probably wasn’t until the seven-minute mark of the second half where it really started to hit me," said Allison, who attempted and missed the first 3-point attempt of his collegiate career Saturday. "It was great the way we were playing, but at the same time in the back of my mind, just flashbacks of the season came."

There were some pretty hard emotions that came up. Some tears started to well up of disappointment and of happiness."

Purdue extended its lead to as many as 39 points in the second half.

Penn State (7-20, 3-13) center Jan Jagla scored 19 points in the first game this season between the two teams, an 81-68 loss to the Nittany Lions Feb. 6.

But Saturday afternoon, Jagla attempted just two shots and finished with two points.

"Purdue played good perimeter defense," said Penn State coach Jerry Dunn. "They made it tough to get into what we wanted from the outset. We were out-muscled on the blocks. It was tough to get the ball inside."

Purdue guard Willie Deane finished with 16 points on 3-of-8 shooting, securing the Big Ten scoring title.

As a team, Purdue hit 30 of its 36 free-throw attempts (83.3 percent), with Allison and Deane each making eight. The Nittany Lions attempted just eight free throws in the game.

Penn State was led in scoring by Brandon Watkins, who had 15 points. Forward Tyler Smith added 13 and guard Sharif Chambliss scored 12 points.

The Boilers have to win the Big Ten tournament to make a postseason tournament.

"We have to win every game from here on out," said Smith. "If we don’t, our season's over."

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