With the Big Ten basketball season a third of the way through, the conference crown is still up for grabs. With that in mind, Purdue head coach Gene Keady had four words for Bo Ryan after Wisconsin defeated the Boilermakers 77-66 last Saturday:
“Go win the league,” said Keady.
“I didn’t know what to say,” Ryan said. “I just said we’re going to keep playing hard. That’s all we’re going to do. He knows better than I what the league is like.”
Keady, who has been coaching in the Big Ten for 22 years and has 503 career victories in his 24 years of coaching, is experiencing one of only a few losing seasons he’s had in his illustrious career. The Boilermakers fell to 9-11 and 1-5 in conference play against Wisconsin. He has said this year’s Purdue squad lacks the defensive intensity and drive to win that his teams have possessed in years past.
With the win, the Badgers improve to 11-8 overall, and their 4-2 record in the Big Ten is good enough for third place behind Ohio State (5-0) and Indiana (4-1).
Leading the charge for Wisconsin were true freshman Devin Harris and redshirt freshman Mike Wilkinson with 16 points each. The Badgers had a balanced scoring attack that saw five players scoring in double digits. Wilkinson also had a double-double as he added 10 rebounds to his contribution. Of Harris’ 16 points, nine of those came from beyond the arch as he shot three of four from three-point land. As a team, UW shot 55.1 percent from the field, including 65.4 percent in the first half alone. Of Wisconsin’s 17 first-half field goals, 13 of those were assisted.
Purdue was led by Willie Deane, who led all scorers with 24 points. He shot 10 of 18 from the field, including four of seven from behind the arc. The only other Boilermaker in double digits was Darmetreis Kilgore, who added 15 points in the losing effort. The Badgers contained Purdue big man John Allison to zero points in a 0-1 shooting effort. Allison, who stands 6-11, was second in the Big Ten in field goal percentage and was averaging 10.1 points per game prior to the contest. He did, however, lead the team in rebounds with six on the afternoon.
The key to Wisconsin’s victory came due to two big runs in both halves to open up a lead that they never relinquished. Senior Charlie Wills made a three-pointer on UW’s first possession to help lead them on a 19-7 run in the first half that saw the Badgers leading by as much as 12. They headed into the locker room at halftime with a 43-31 advantage, thanks to sophomore Freddie Owens, who connected on two straight three-pointers from opposite corners. Owens, who had exchanged words with Purdue guard Andrew Ford, also had a chat with Keady as both teams headed into the locker room. At the game’s end, Keady and Owens exchanged a quick embrace after Keady learned that it was Ford who started the trash-talking on the court.
“[Owens] did the right thing: hit two three-pointers and kicked [Ford’s] behind,” said Keady. “That’s what you’re supposed to do.”
“Obviously, when you trash-talk you have to back it up,” said Owens, who finished the game with 10 points. “That’s what I tried to do.”
The second half started better than the first as UW opened up with a 15-0 run. They would go up by as much as 26 when they held a 62-36 advantage with 12:47 left in the second half. The Badgers led by more than 20 points for most of the second half.
Eventually Purdue was able to chip away at the lead; they went on a 16-6 run to bring the game within 10 with just under two minutes left. The Badgers held on as Wilkinson made a key offensive rebound followed up by a layup. Harris then stole the ball with 23 seconds left and split his attempts from the charity stripe. From there the Boilermakers were held scoreless until Joe Marshall hit a desperation three-pointer in the last 15 seconds of the game, but Wisconsin had already locked up the victory.
