They planned it that way -- at least that's what Dan Earl said. But he was only kidding.

Too bad, because the Nittany Lions (9-6 overall, 2-4 in the Big Ten) couldn't have scripted their 71-68 upset win over No. 7 Purdue (16-2, 4-2) any better than they did last night. The only thing Earl could have done was make the game a little bit less exciting.

With 6.1 seconds remaining, the freshman found himself at the free-throw line. He had just sunk the first one, giving the Lions their three-point margin. All he had to do now was prove to the 7,129 standing room only crowd that he had the intestinal fortitude to put the game away.

"If I would've hit it, it would've made a lot of people rest a little easier," he allowed.

Luckily, after a Purdue timeout, Matt Waddell missed a three-point shot and center John Amaechi gobbled up the rebound as bedlam erupted amongst the Rec Hall faithful.

"We planned it that way . . ." Earl said, adding, "I'm just kidding."

Earl finished the game with four points -- all from the free-throw line. John Amaechi led the well-balanced Lion attack with 15 points, while Michael Jennings and Phil Williams tossed in 14 and 10 respectively.

Of Amaechi's 15, the biggest two came with 1:40 to go -- a thunderous slam to put the Lions up for good, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. The two-handed dunk capped off a ferocious run in which Penn State turned a 68-63 deficit into the 69-68 lead.

Amaechi started the spurt with a layup: 68-65. Then a missed three-pointer by Purdue's Porter Roberts and a one-handed Matt Gaudio layup in the paint at the other end of the floor: Boilermaker lead cut to 68-67. Finally the Amaechi dunk, and chants of "O-ver-ra-ted!" echoed throughout the building.

The run's catalyst, the 6-foot-10 center, became his own critic in the aftermath.

"I think the key was, I didn't try to do it all myself in the second half," Amaechi said, adding that although this was a big win, he savored the Minnesota victory more. "It's not as fun as the first time --now I kind of expect it."

What he also expected was a fantastic performance from Purdue's player-of-the-year candidate Glenn Robinson, and the 6-foot-8 all-everything forward did not disappoint.

Robinson threw in 27 points to lead all scorers, while Cuonzo Martin had 18 to go along with Waddell's 15. The difference was the scoring from the bench. The Lions' bench, led by Donovan Williams' eight and Gaudio's seven, outscored Purdue's bench, which could only total four, all from guard Herb Dove.

But Purdue Coach Gene Keady wasn't about to lay blame on anybody's shoulders. Ever the diplomat, the coach doled out the praise for Penn State and Coach Bruce Parkhill.

"In this league you've got to have a bench or you can't win," Keady said. "Not to take anything away from Penn State -- unlike some people we beat, they never say shit about us when we win --if they keep playing like that they're going to win a lot of games.

"Penn State was hard-nosed tonight. Boy they got after you and I loved it," he added.

Notes:

-- The Nittany Lions can't afford to dwell on this win too long. The Lions take their show on the road to Northwestern tomorrow.

The Lions will take on the Wildcats at 8 p.m. EST at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill.

The Lions return home Wednesday to meet Illinois before Saturday afternoon's Rec Hall rematch with Indiana.

-- The upset win was Penn State's first victory over a top-10 team since it beat No. 7 Pittsburgh 66-64 in February 1974 in Rec Hall.