Purdue ends UW’s win streak

It took only five minutes for Purdue to erase coach Gene Keady’s concern about how the Boilermakers would play as a ranked team.

It turns out a Top 25 ranking fits Purdue just fine.

“We were concerned about our kids being ready,” Keady said of the Boilermakers’ first ranking in two years. “That was futile and wasted time on my part. We were ready.”

Willie Deane scored 19 points, Darmetreis Kilgore added 17 and Chris Booker 14 as No. 24 Purdue beat Wisconsin 78-60 Wednesday night for its 10th win in the last 11 games.

The Boilermakers (15-4, 7-1 Big Ten) were playing their first game as a ranked team since March 2000 and may have played their best game of the season.

Wisconsin (15-5, 5-3) could have moved into a first-place tie with Purdue in the Big Ten. Instead, the Boilermakers dominated from the opening tip and snapped Wisconsin’s five-game winning streak.

The Boilermakers are 12-0 at home and beat Wisconsin for the 28th straight time at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers are off to their best start since going 15-4 in 1997-98 and have won four straight conference games for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

Deane, just named the Big Ten player of the week, scored the game’s first 11 points — including three 3-pointers. Seven minutes into the game, he converted a three-point play to give Purdue an 18-1 lead.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a player score the first 11 points. That’s a first for me in 44 years of coaching,” Keady said.

What made the rout even more surprising was that Wisconsin entered with the best defense in the Big Ten, allowing only 59.1 points. They were only allowing 28.8 rebounds, also the lowest in the conference.

Deane said the Boilermakers noticed some flaws in Wisconsin’s defense while reviewing the scouting report.

“We knew they lacked transition defense. We knew if we pushed it, we’d have an edge,” he said. “I was able to get a couple of transition baskets and spark a little run.”

Wisconsin didn’t score its first point until a free throw by Mike Wilkinson at 15:13 and didn’t score its first field goal until a driving layup by Kirk Penney at 12:33.

Penney entered fifth in the Big Ten in scoring with a 16.7 average, but was held to eight points on 3-for-15 shooting. Alando Tucker led the Badgers with 16 points.

The Badgers could never work the ball inside against Purdue’s big men, often settling for mid-range jumpers that were off the mark.

Ivan Kartelo had nine boards as the Boilermakers out rebounded Wisconsin 46-27.

The Badgers missed their first 11 shots and were 5-for-29 from the floor in the first half and scored 12 points of their points on free throws.

Kilgore came off the bench and hit three 3-pointers in the half. Purdue was 7-for-14 from beyond the arc and finished off one of the nicer plays of the game. Matt Kiefer blocked a shot, picked up the loose ball and led a two-on-one fast break, ending with a dunk by Kilgore to make it 27-5.

With Indiana Pacers’ All-Star center Brad Miller, a former Boilermaker, rooting them on from behind the bench, Purdue lead by as many as 26. Though Wisconsin scored the final seven points of the half they trailed 41-22 at halftime.

Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan wasn’t sure what went wrong.

“They deserve to be in first place, and we’ve played everybody but Indiana and Michigan State,” he said.

Wisconsin would score the first seven points of the second half and cut it to 45-32, but a 16-6 run by Purdue squashed any hope of a comeback.

“I couldn’t be more pleased, but we’re a long ways away from beating a Top 10 team,” Keady said.

-compiled from staff reports