Keady Gives Purdue Extra Motivation

Coach Gene Keady caught Purdue’s attention and the No. 5 Boilermakers rebounded from an unexpected loss in their Big Ten opener to beat Minnesota, 83-79, Friday at Minneapolis.

Reserve Gary McQuay, who scored eight points, said Keady didn’t give Purdue any choice except to perform better than it had in losing to Michigan State by 17 on Tuesday.

“There was a lot of yelling, then some more yelling and then some yelling after that,” McQuay said. “Coach got us back in perspective.”

“Everybody was real embarrassed by the way we played against Michigan State,” said Purdue’s Brian Cardinal, who scored 22. “We needed to come in here and play well. Fortunately, we did.”

Purdue, 12-3 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten, made 28 of 33 free throws, including 10 of 11 in the final five minutes.

Minnesota, which had won three in a row, hadn’t lost a Big Ten home opener since Jan. 7, 1988, a 65-61 overtime defeat by Illinois.

Purdue, which raced to a 12-3 lead in the opening minutes, led, 42-39, at halftime, despite a 15-0 run by Minnesota.

Sam Jacobson scored a season-high 28 points, his fifth consecutive game with 20 or more points for Minnesota (7-5, 0-1).

The victory was the seventh of the season for Purdue over an NCAA tournament team from last season.

La Salle 72, Villanova 65--Victor Thomas scored 10 points and keyed La Salle (4-5) down the stretch at Philadelphia as the Explorers ended a four-game winning streak for Villanova (6-5).

Thomas made three big plays in the game’s final 2 1/2 minutes as La Salle pulled away in a game that had been close for most of the second half.