March 1, 2006
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Marshall Strickland scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half to help Indiana beat Purdue 70-59 on Wednesday night for its third straight win.
Robert Vaden added 11 points and 12 rebounds for Indiana (16-10, 8-7 Big Ten), which might have saved its NCAA Tournament hopes with the victory.
Gary Ware led Purdue (9-17, 3-12) with 16 points and Matt Kiefer added 13 in the Boilermakers' third straight loss.
Indiana shot 71 percent in the second half after shooting 27 percent in the first.
A late 3-point barrage by Indiana doomed the Boilermakers. Indiana led 51-48 with 5:30 left, but two 3-pointers by Vaden sandwiched around an NBA-range three by Strickland gave Indiana a 62-53 lead with 1:45 remaining. The Hoosiers went 6-for-9 from beyond the arc in the second half.
The Hoosiers won their fourth in a row in the series. Indiana won the first meeting this season 62-49 in Bloomington.
Purdue made four of its first six shots to take an 8-2 lead and force an Indiana timeout. The Hoosiers responded with a 16-5 run to take an 18-13 lead.
Purdue answered Indiana's surge with an 11-0 run that included three straight buckets by Ware and five points from Kiefer.
Purdue led 27-25 in the closing seconds of the first half, but Bryant Dillon carried. Marco Killingsworth, who was held to 10 points and three rebounds, then missed a 3-pointer as time expired, allowing Purdue to take its lead into the break.
Indiana shot 9-for-31 from the field in the first half - Vaden was 1-for-9 - and the Hoosiers made 3-of-15 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.