Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Travels to Archrival Purdue
2/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2006
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana will travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on archrival Purdue on Wednesday, March 1, at 8 p.m. EST. The Hoosiers have won three straight over the Boilermakers, including a 75-73 double overtime win at Mackey Arena last season.
Indiana is riding a two-game winning streak into its game at Purdue, thanks to a 78-71 senior day win over then-No. 18/16 Michigan State on Feb. 26. Sophomore guard/forward Robert Vaden led the Hoosiers with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on the day. It marked the second double-double of his career, both coming this season.
Purdue was idle over the weekend and will be looking to snap its two-game losing skid. Most recently, the Boilermakers dropped a 62-50 decision at Minnesota on Feb. 22. Purdue was led by forward Marcus White's 12 points off the bench.
On The Air
The Indiana-Purdue game will be televised on ESPN Plus, with Craig Coshun (play-by-play) and Greg Kelser (color commentary) on the call. Additionally, all of Indiana's games can be heard live on the IU Radio Network. WHCC (105.1 FM in Bloomington) is the flagship station for the network that has more than 50 stations broadcasting Hoosier basketball. Don Fischer (play-by-play), former Indiana guard Todd Leary (color commentary) and Joe Smith (pregame, halftime and postgame host) call all of the action.
Scouting Purdue
Purdue enters the March 1 contest with a 9-16 overall mark and a 3-11 record in Big Ten play. All three of the Boilermakers' wins have come at Mackey Arena, including winning twice on their home floor in the last three contests.
Purdue is led by senior forward Matt Kiefer, who averages team-bests of 11.9 points and 7.4 rebounds on the campaign. Junior forward Marcus White (11.5 ppg) also averages double figures for the Boilers, while senior guard Bryant Dillon leads the team with 3.0 assists per game.
Head coach Matt Painter is in his first season as head coach, and second overall with the Boilermakers. He officially became Purdue's 18th men's basketball coach on April 1, 2005. During the 2004-05 season, Painter served as associate head coach during Gene Keady's 25th and final season with the Boilermakers.
The Purdue Series
Indiana and Purdue will meet for the second time this season, and the 188th time in the series history, the most of any opponent IU has faced in school history. Earlier this season, Indiana took a 62-49 decision at Assembly Hall on Jan. 21. The Hoosiers were led by senior forward Marco Killingsworth's 18 points and 10 rebounds on the night. A complete box score can be found on page 24.
Purdue holds a 106-81 all-time advantage over Indiana; however, it is the Hoosiers who have won four of the last five meetings and nine of the last 11 in the series. Last season, the Hoosiers swept the Boilermakers, marking the first such sweep since the 2001-02 campaign. Indiana defeated Purdue, 75-73, in double overtime on Jan. 15, 2005 in West Lafayette, and 79-62 on Feb. 22, 2005 in Bloomington. Additionally, IU has won two of the last four contests over Purdue at Mackey Arena.
AT&T Crimson And Gold Cup
The rivalry between IU and Purdue continues with the 2005-06 AT&T Crimson and Gold Cup, also presented by Simon Malls. The overall winner of the contest will be awarded a trophy at the end of the season. The Hoosiers currently lead this year's series, 7.5-5.0.
Purdue Last Time Out
Minnesota got 12 points from Spencer Tollackson and 10 more from fellow reserve Rico Tucker in beating Purdue 62-50 on Feb. 22.
The Gophers got 33 points from their bench to win for the fifth time in seven games after starting out the Big Ten schedule with six straight losses.
Matt Kiefer, who leads Purdue with a 12-point average, scored just nine points before fouling out with 4:24 remaining. Marcus White led the Boilermakers with 12 points on the evening.
Indiana Last Time Out
On Senior Day, the Indiana men's basketball team received important contributions from a number of players on its way to an exciting 78-71 win over No. 18/16 (AP/Coaches) Michigan State. The win improved IU to 15-1 over its last 16 home league contests.
Sophomore guard/forward Robert Vaden led the Hoosiers in points (21), rebounds (10) and assists (5). It marked the second time this season and in his Hoosier career that he recorded a double-double. Senior forward Marco Killingsworth finished with 18 points, while senior guard Marshall Strickland capped his home IU career with 16 points, four rebounds and a trio of assists in 39 minutes of action. Junior guard Errek Suhr finished with nine points and had some key plays down the stretch.
Indiana finished the game .456 (26-of-57) from the field, including 17-of-34 (.500) in the opening half. The Hoosiers also knocked down nine three-point field goals and went 17-of-21 from the charity stripe.
Vaden Showing Versatility
Sophomore forward/guard Robert Vaden turned in one of his best performances this season in the Hoosiers' 78-71 win over then-No. 18/16 Michigan State on Feb. 26. The Indianapolis, Ind., native collected team highs of 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in 39 minutes of action. It was his second career double-double, both coming during the 2005-06 campaign.
To say that Vaden is having a career year in 2005-06 would be an understatement. The first team All-Big Ten candidate has put up impressive numbers all season, including the following:
• With his five three-point field goals against Michigan State on Feb. 26, Vaden moved into a tie for 13th on the Hoosier single-season three-point field-goal made list. His five treys pushed his season total to 62 and tied him with Brian Evans' 1995-96 total. He is now one short of moving into a tie for 10th on the single-season three-point field-goal made list in conference games only with 35.
• He hit for a school record 12 consecutive treys from Dec. 23 through Jan. 3, a span of three games, which was only three off the NCAA Division I record of 15 straight.
• He hit 6-of-6 three pointers against Butler on Dec. 23, which broke the single-game school record. Vaden eclipsed the former record of 5-of-5, set by Kyle Hornsby (vs. Michigan on Feb. 17, 2002) and Keith Smart (vs. Ohio State on March 5, 1987).
• Vaden hit 8-of-12 three-pointers against Iowa on Jan. 24, which matched Neil Reed (Jan. 23, 1996 against Michigan), Brian Evans (Dec. 22, 1994 against Chaminade), Jay Edwards (Feb. 4, 1988 against Minnesota) and ironically, current Iowa head coach and former IU All-American Steve Alford (Dec. 26, 1986 against Princeton) for the Hoosier single-game school record. It also was the eighth-best mark all-time in Big Ten history and the 10th most by a player in Division I this season.
• Vaden earned his first career Big Ten Player of the Week honor for the week of Jan. 2.
• The Indianapolis, Ind., native leads the team in assists (4.0 per game) and steals (34), while also ranking second on the squad in points (13.7) and rebounds (5.6) per contest.
• He has now set career highs in scoring (26 at Iowa on Feb. 4), rebounding (12 at Wisconsin on Feb. 8), assists (eight at Western Illinois on Nov. 26) and three-pointers made (eight at Iowa on Feb. 4) on the season.
Three Amigos
Indiana's top three scorers all had big games against then-No. 18/16 Michigan State on Feb. 26. Senior forward Marco Killingsworth (18 points), senior guard Marshall Strickland (16 points) and sophomore guard/forward Robert Vaden (21 points) combined for 55 of Indiana's 78 points in the seven-point win. It was the 10th time this season the threesome all hit double figures in the same contest, with the Hoosiers boasting an 8-2 record when it occurs. Furthermore, the trio combines for 60 percent (43.7 points) of the team's total scoring and 50 percent (16.9 rebounds) of its total rebounding on the season.
Free Throw Improvement
Senior Marco Killingsworth has been getting deserved credit for his play on the court throughout the season. However, one of the biggest improvements Killingsworth has made throughout the campaign is his foul shooting. During Indiana's 78-71 win over then-No. 18/16 Michigan State on Feb. 26, the Montgomery, Ala., native went a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, marking the second game this season he has hit all his free throws he attempted (4-of-4 at Wisconsin on Feb. 8). In fact, over his last seven contests, Killingsworth has been one of the Hoosiers best shooters from the foul line, connecting on 30-of-37 free throws, which equates to an .811 percentage. In his previous 17 contests, Killingsworth was a combined 72-of-127 (.567).
Errek The Great
Over his last two games, junior reserve Errek Suhr has shown why head coach Mike Davis awarded the former walk-on player with a scholarship this season. With nine points and three rebounds in 19 minutes of action in IU's win over Michigan State on Feb. 26, Suhr has now averaged 8.5 points and 2.5 rebounds over Indiana's two-game win streak. In fact, Suhr has been a difference in the Hoosier victories this season. Of the 15 IU wins, Suhr has averaged 6.3 points and 2.2 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per contest. However, in the Hoosiers' 10 losses, the Bloomington, Ind., native is averaging only 1.2 points, 0.9 rebounds and 10.6 minutes a game.
