Boilers beat 'inept' Lions

By RYAN JONES
Collegian Sports Writer

With seven games remaining and only three of them at home, the men's basketball team knew its postseason fate would rest on the ability to win away from Rec Hall.

The Nittany Lions also knew that last night's visit to West Lafayette, Ind., would be as good a time as any to get one of those needed road wins.

They knew it, but they didn't play like it, and Purdue made them pay for it.

Sparked by a slew of second-half runs, the No. 25 Boilermakers turned Penn State turnovers into points and an eight-point halftime lead into a rout, building a 25-point advantage before thumping the Lions, 71-51, last night in Mackey Arena.

The win gave Purdue (17-6, 8-3 Big Ten) a sweep of the season series between the two teams and handed Penn State (13-8, 5-7) its fifth loss in six games.

"I really think we've fallen into a trap of our inept offense affecting our defense," Lion Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "We're really struggling."

The game's most telling numbers fell into two catagories: turnovers, of which the Lions committed 18, leading to 18 Purdue points; and senior center John Amaechi, who, bothered by an aching back, shot a dreary 33 percent from the floor en route to a subpar 10 points and 13 rebounds.

"Our goal was to make them work hard to get good shots," Purdue Coach Gene Keady said. "I thought our kids did a great job on Amaechi in the first half."

Said Amaechi: "One side of my back tightened up. I had a spasm. I played a poor game and it really hurt us."

Despite shooting only 36 percent for the game and 32 percent in the first half, the Lions were still in it when they came out for the second half. After Rahsaan Carlton's circus layin moments into the second stanza cut the Purdue lead to six, the Boilers went on a 15-3 tear to push the count to 47-29.

The Lions, thanks to consecutive baskets from guard Donovan Williams, put up a seven-point run of their own, cutting the lead to 11 with just over 10 minutes to play.

But the deficit ballooned to 25 points in a matter of minutes, as the Lions were left reeling from an 18-4 Purdue run that made the game's final minutes a sloppy showcase for each team's deepest bench players.

The first half was characterized by similarly sloppy shooting from both sides, most personified by Amaechi, who went only 2-of-8 from the field while rarely leaving the paint, and Purdue gunner Matt Waddell, who went 2-of-7 from the floor.

After Lion forward Glenn Sekunda opened the game with a baseline runner, the Boilers went on a 9-2 run, capped off by Porter Roberts' layup five minutes into the half. Penn State would never again see the lead, closing the gap to three on an Amaechi layup but falling behind by as much as 11 on three occasions, the last after a Chad Austin layin that gave Purdue a 28-17 lead.

Amaechi's 10 points made him the only Lion to put up double figures in scoring, while Williams and Carlton added nine apeice and starting point guard Dan Earl went scoreless.

Purdue was led by forward Cuonzo Martin's 14 points, freshman center Brad Miller's 12 points -- two more than Amaechi in the pivot -- and forward Roy Hairston's 10. The Boilers shot 41 percent for the game, committed nine turnovers and barely outrebounded the Lions, 40-39.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

1PENN STATE (13-8, 5-7)

Carlton 4-11 0-1 9, Sekunda 3-7 1-3 8, Amaechi 4-12 2-5 10, D. Williams 4-8 0-9 9, Earl 0-5 0-0 0, Lisicky 2-7 2-3 6, P. Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Bartram 1-2 0-0 3, Joseph 1-1 0-0 2, Althouse 1-2 0-1 2, Machamer 0-0 0-0 0, Rogers 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-59 5-13 51

1PURDUE (17-6, 8-3)

Martin 4-15 2-3 14, Jennings 0-2 0-0 0, Miller 4-5 4-6 12, Waddell 3-9 2-3 9, Roberts 3-5 0-0 6, Dove 3-5 2-2 8, Hairston 4-6 2-5 10, Brantley 2-4 2-2 6, Austin 3-7 0-0 6, Foster 0-1 0-0 0, Lesmond 0-1 0-0 0, Ervin 0-1 0-0 0, Ten Dam 0-0 0-0 0, Gilvydis 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-63 14-21 71.

Halftime--Purdue 32, PSU 24. 3-Point goals--PSU 4-14 (Carlton 1-1, D. Williams 1-2, Bartram 1-2, Sekunda 1-4, Rogers 0-1, Lisicky 0-2, Earl 0-2), Purdue 5-13 (Martin 4-7, Waddell 1-2, Roberts 0-1, Foster 0-1, Roberts 0-2). Fouled out--D. Williams. Rebounds--PSU 42 (Amaechi 13), Purdue 40 (Miller, Roberts 6). Assists--PSU 10 (D. Williams 4), Purdue 20 (Roberts 9). Total fouls-- PSU 16, Purdue 16. A--14,123.