Feb. 15, 2007
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - This is why David Teague went through all the grueling rehab.
Teague, a senior guard who missed last season with a torn ACL, was at his best Thursday night, scoring a career-high 32 points as Purdue beat No. 24 Indiana 81-68 on Thursday night.
"This is why I put in the extra work, fought through the pain," Teague said. "I wanted to do something special."
Teague made 11 of 18 field goals, including 6-for-8 from 3-point range, to help the Boilermakers snap a five-game losing streak in the intrastate rivalry. Teague has averaged 22 points in the Boilermakers' last three home wins.
"This isn't a fluke with him," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "When you do it against Illinois, you do it against Michigan State, then Indiana, and you do it at key times. ... He's been very consistent for us in big games at home."
Carl Landry added 22 points and 11 rebounds and Tarrance Crump added 13 points for Purdue (17-9, 6-6 Big Ten). The Boilermakers improved to 14-1 at home and boosted their NCAA Tournament hopes with their second win over a ranked team this season.
Teague said Landry, a senior forward who also came back from a knee injury this season, helped free him on the perimeter.
"That's our recipe," Teague said. "Get it to Carl Landry and get it to him some more. When teams go to double-team and trap him, Carl's such a great player and he's so unselfish that he's always looking for the open man. We play off of him."
The game meant more than usual for Purdue because Indiana won the last meeting 85-58 on Jan. 10 in Bloomington. The Hoosiers had won eight of the previous 10 games in the series.
"It was important on so many levels," Teague said, "It was a big game, a rivalry game, avenging the loss, them being ranked - there were so many pluses to getting this win."
The Boilermakers shot 50 percent from the field and outrebounded the Hoosiers 32-28.
D.J. White scored 20 points, Armon Bassett scored 16 and Roderick Wilmont added 15 for Indiana (17-7, 7-4).
The game was moved from Wednesday to Thursday because of wintry weather that slowed travel throughout Indiana.
Purdue led 34-32 at halftime, but Indiana took a 50-48 lead on a 3-pointer by Bassett with 13:15 to go.
A bad Indiana pass and a scramble led to an uncontested layup by Teague, then Gordon Watt's steal and layup gave the Boilermakers a 55-52 lead. A bucket and a 3-point play by Landry, followed by a 3-pointer by Teague, pushed Purdue's lead to 63-54 with 7:29 left. Purdue led by at least six points the rest of the way.
The tension between the rivals became evident when White went for a rebound with 8:27 left in the first half. Purdue's Chris Kramer tied him up and it led to a minor skirmish that got the sellout crowd more involved.
Purdue led by 11 points in the first half, but Indiana chipped away until halftime. Earl Calloway's short jumper in the closing seconds of the half cut Purdue's lead to two points at the break. White scored 16 points in the first half to keep the Hoosiers in the game.
White said Purdue defended him well in the second half. He made just one field goal and scored four points after halftime.
"Just more attention," White said. "They switched up a lot of things defensively, and they did a good job of doing that. I'll give them credit."
It was Indiana's third straight road loss in the Big Ten.
"Down the stretch, not able to come through," White said. "We're in the game all the way until the end. We've got to find a way to finish. We just don't finish."