Jan. 28, 2006
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Rich McBride scored 19 points and Dee Brown's hustle triggered a first-half rally that turned No. 8 Illinois' nine-point deficit into an 11-point lead on the way to a 76-58 victory over Purdue on Saturday.
The win extended Illinois' home winning streak to 33 games, tying Southern Illinois for the longest current streak in the country. The streak started after Purdue broke a 23-game streak with a 54-50 win on Jan. 10, 2004.
The Illini (19-2, 5-2 Big Ten) are 90-3 at home since the start of the 1999-2000 season.
Purdue (7-12, 1-7) scored the first seven points of the game and was up 12-4 with 14:02 to go in the first half when Illinois coach Bruce Weber gave his players a loud wakeup call.
"We got to get a motor going," he shouted as McBride stepped to the free throw line. Everybody in the Assembly Hall heard him.
McBride hit both free throws but Purdue's Marcus Green was fouled on a 3-point try and hit all three free throws to put the Boilermakers up 15-6. But the Illini got Weber's message.
Jamar Smith answered with a 3-pointer and the Illini scored the next 14 points while holding Purdue scoreless for 5:51.
The early nine-point deficit became a 29-20 lead when James Augustine swiped the ball from Marcus White at midcourt and raced in for a dunk with 4:38 left in the half.
Along the way, Brown grabbed a long rebound off Chris Lutz's missed 3-pointer and flew down the lane for a layup that turned into a three-point play. A few seconds later he made another layup to close Illinois' deficit to 15-14.
He scooped a loose ball back from out of bounds to McBride who hit a 3-pointer that gave the Illini their first lead, 18-15. And his racing layup with 6 seconds left in the half put the Illini ahead 35-27
Gary Ware's basket cut Illinois' lead to 39-34 just after halftime, but the Boilermakers could not contain Illinois' transition game and the Illini answered with a 17-3 run that gave them a 56-37 lead with 13 minutes to go.
Brown finished with 12 points and nine assists. McBride, the recipient of several of those assists, was 6-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range.
Augustine scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Illinois, his seventh double-double of the season.
Ware and Green each scored 11 points for Purdue, which lost its fourth straight. Bryant Dillon added 10 points and Matt Kiefer had 10 rebounds.