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A loss on the road
to Oklahoma is understandable for Purdue.
Losing at home to Southern Methodist is not.
The 22nd-ranked Boilermakers hope to rebound from one their most surprising losses in recent memory when they host struggling Evansville in an all-Indiana matchup on Saturday.
Purdue has used the Boilermaker Invitational as its own personal tuneup for the Big Ten schedule, posting a 23-1 record since its inception in 1990. The Boilermakers opened this year's tournament last Saturday with an 80-69 victory over Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, but their 22-game win streak in the event came to a stunning end Sunday with a 60-59 loss to SMU.
Purdue's only other loss in the tournament was to Wisconsin-Green Bay, 69-53 on Dec. 7, 1991.
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SMU's Bryan Hopkins scored on a driving layup with 24 seconds left, and Kenneth
Lowe missed on two chances to win the game for the Boilermakers in the final
seconds.
``I think that we've had games like this all year and got away with them,'' Purdue coach Gene Keady said. ``We didn't compete tonight and SMU just outplayed us.''
Poor outside shooting and a lack of defensive intensity were mainly to blame for Purdue's second loss in four games -- the other at then-No. 11 Oklahoma on Dec. 11. Lowe, David Teague and Melvin Buckley combined to shoot just 31.4 percent (11-for-35) while SMU shot 51 percent (24-of-47).
``This team, right now, can go either way,'' Keady said. ``We can either be a real bad team in March or a real fun team. It's going to be a nice test to see how we respond.''
Lowe had 19 points and seven rebounds and was named tournament MVP. He is the only Purdue player with a double-figure scoring average this season, netting 15.1 points per game.
Getting back into the win column Sunday is imperative for the Boilermakers, whose schedule gets much more difficult next week. Purdue visits Colorado State on Tuesday in the first of four straight road games, a stretch which includes the start of Big Ten play Jan. 7 against Iowa.
Evansville (1-6) has lost two straight after beating Eastern Illinois on Dec. 13 for its only win of the season
The Purple Aces allowed 20 points in the final 5:12 of the game in losing 92-82 to Western Kentucky on Saturday.
This will be Evansville's first game against a ranked opponent since it beat then-No. 9 Creighton 74-66 on Jan. 23. The Purple Aces are just 2-12 against Big Ten teams in 27 years at the Division I level.
Purdue is 3-0 against Evansville at home, but this is the first meeting between the teams since 1984.