[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue logo is that of an old-fashioned steam engine locomotive, presumably hurtling towards some unknown destination. That train hit the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team Saturday afternoon, and it wasn't pretty.

It wasn't X's and O's, preparation or effort that doomed the Badgers to a 70-62 loss to the lowly Boilermakers. No, it wasn't the size of their heart, but simply their size.

"I felt like we were out-muscled, not out-hustled," UW head coach Bo Ryan said after the loss. "Man, in that locker room, I'm looking at blood and scrapes and patches … as big as Purdue is, I thought we were fairly aggressive."

Purdue only enjoyed a slight rebounding advantage (35-30) and though they scored eight more points in the paint than Wisconsin, the numbers don't quite tell the story of the dominance of the Boilermakers' interior men, who consistently were able to lob the ball into the post for easy buckets.

That problem, a lack of muscle in the post, could become even more aggravated for UW, as forward Brian Butch had to be helped off the court with a left ankle injury late in the game.

"Battling in the paint in the Big Ten is no joke," freshman forward Joe Krabbenhoft said. "It's a challenge. We're not going to back down. We've just got to build our bodies like those guys. But that takes time, and we don't have it right now."

"We wanted to go inside," Purdue head coach Matt Painter said. "We really wanted to pound the ball [inside] and try to get to the free-throw line and try and get some easy baskets."

The loss puts the Badgers (15-7, 5-4 Big Ten) two games out of first place in the conference and reeling, having lost five of their past six games. Purdue (8-13, 2-8), on the other hand, used the victory to climb out of the Big Ten cellar, leap-frogging Minnesota.

"It's a great feeling," Purdue forward Matt Kiefer said. "We've come so close as far as putting together some good halves, and tonight we were able to put together a whole game."

Kiefer was a major part of Wisconsin's demise, scoring 16 first-half points to give Purdue a five-point lead at the break that they would never extinguish after his team trailed early.

In the second half, it was the Boilermakers' bruising inside game that was unstoppable, with forward Marcus White leading the way with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

"[Kiefer] made them go in the first half and then White in the second half, we just … couldn't figure some things out in the first part of the second half," Ryan said. "I mean, we figured it out we just physically couldn't do it. [White] was just stronger than our guys."

Wisconsin opened the game in rhythm, making four of their first eight shots and jumping out to a 10-2 lead. However, that lead was short-lived and the Boilermakers, led by nine points from Keifer, went on a 15-2 run to take the lead. Wisconsin didn't score a point for 6:09 during the run.

"I thought the way we were moving the ball, especially early, I mean, we had guys catching pneumonia they were so wide open," Ryan said of the open shots his team was getting but unable to make during the scoring drought.

Wisconsin was able to tie the game when Tucker fought for an inside bucket, was fouled and made the ensuing free throw, making the score 15-15 with 8:35 left in the half. However, Purdue then went on another run, this time outscoring UW 14-2 and taking a 12-point lead. Wisconsin never again got any closer than five points down the stretch.

In the second half, the Boilermakers started to lean on their post play even more heavily, and that, combined with a couple timely threes, helped Purdue build its lead up to 16.

"We've seen them, and that's exactly what we tried to prepare for," Ryan responded, when asked if anything Purdue did surprised him. "We just didn't get it done."

It wasn't until the final minutes that the Badgers were able to make a game of it, closing within five points with 2:03 left to play after a Tucker lay-in. But UW drew no closer, as Purdue made free throws and the Badgers missed shots down the stretch.

Tucker led Wisconsin with 22 points and junior guard Kammron Taylor chipped in 11, but they were the only two Badgers to score in double-figures as the team was again plagued by shooting woes, shooting only 38.2 percent from the field, marking the fourth game in the past five it has shot under 40 percent.

"They were playing well, and we weren't. We weren't knocking them down. I don't know what else to say," Krabbenhoft lamented, adding that Wisconsin's shooting staleness has been a result of the team not running the swing as well as past Bo Ryan teams. "It's not just putting a shot up there and hoping it goes down. It's what comes before that shot."

Although the players appeared to be collected, several indicated that frustrations were starting to boil over following the upset loss.

"Man, it is very frustrating. This is the most [losses, frustration] I've had at the Wisconsin program," Tucker said.

"We're angry that we're not getting it done on the floor," Krabbenhoft said. "We're upset with the loss, but we have to move on."