Battle for Big Ten lead pits Purdue against IU with Wright on floor
Purdue's Kenneth Lowe gets to the basket against Indiana's Jeff Newton (left) and George Leach (5) in the Boilermakers' 22-point victory over the Hoosiers last season. -- File photo
Post-game coverage
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By Michael Pointer
michael.pointer@indystar.com
January 27, 2004
Last season's 69-47 victory over Indiana at Mackey Arena was sweet for Kenneth Lowe and his Purdue teammates. One thing would have made it better.
That would have been the presence of IU's Bracey Wright, who missed the game because of a back injury.
"I knew as soon as the game was over, people were going to say, 'Yeah, you all won, but they didn't have Bracey Wright,' " Lowe said.
Tonight, the 21st-ranked Boilers get a chance to knock off the Hoosiers with Wright in the lineup when the teams meet at Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Lowe, last season's Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, likely will spend much of the night guarding Wright, the league's top offensive player from the perimeter.
"Whenever you're guarding a guy like Bracey, it's going to be tough because he's going to look to take a lot of shots," said Lowe, who also is the Boilers' leading scorer. "He's probably going to take 15 to 20 shots. I'm going to have to always be ready."
Purdue coach Gene Keady said the Boilers have faced plenty of stellar guards this season, but he's not sure any prepared them for Wright.
"He seems to be the hardest guard to match up with because he's pretty long and he's got great confidence in his shot," Keady said.
The Boilers will be quite a challenge for the Hoosiers, too. Purdue is second in the Big Ten in defense, allowing an average of 59.8 points while using an intense man-to-man style reminiscent of Keady's best teams at the school.
"I just hope the officials make good calls because they really play aggressive defensively," IU coach Mike Davis said. "They may be one of the best in the country on the defensive end. It's important that we take care of the basketball and not get caught up in how physical they play."
Tonight is the first time the teams have met when tied for first place in the Big Ten since the 1988-89 season, when IU won 74-73 at West Lafayette.
But that's somewhat deceiving. Each team was just 1-0 in league play at the time. Purdue eventually finished 15-16 that season, one of only two losing records in 24 seasons under Keady. Indiana went 27-8 and won the conference title.
Much more will be at stake tonight. Purdue has victories at Illinois and at home against Wisconsin and Michigan State.
A victory at Indiana would give the Boilers victories over the four teams considered the Big Ten's best before the season -- and it's still January.
IU hasn't played quite as tough of a Big Ten schedule as the Boilers, but it has three road victories in league play -- Keady said that makes the Hoosiers the favorites in the Big Ten race. A victory tonight over a ranked team like the Boilers would show those victories weren't flukes.
"We've only played six of our first 16 games at home, and how many teams at this level can say that at this point in the season?" Davis said. "I think that has made us a better basketball team, and in some ways we're playing better on the road than we are at home.
"But this is a big game for us to come home in front of our fans and play well against a very good Purdue basketball team."
Wright said going on the road and getting away from distractions was good for the Hoosiers after the way they struggled earlier in the season.
"I think everyone on this team didn't want to be known as the worst team in Indiana history," he said. "We were falling fast and a lot of people weren't quite sure of what would happen to this team."
They're back home tonight, which should be an advantage for the Hoosiers. The Boilers, however, are a veteran team that shouldn't be intimidated by a rowdy Assembly Hall crowd.
"We have a great opportunity to go down there and win a big game," Lowe said. "Hopefully, we can just play Purdue basketball and not get caught up in the atmosphere."
