Hoosiers send Keady packing

With Purdue coach Gene Keady's last game in Assembly Hall overshadowing the contest, the Hoosiers buckled down, focused and broke open a close game at halftime with a 20-0 run to start the second half for the victory.\nLeading by just four at the break, IU's turnover forcing, pesky defense sparked the Hoosiers' offense. \nDuring the 20-0 run, IU hit four straight three-pointers -- three coming from junior guard Bracey Wright. The defense aided IU's efforts by forcing six turnovers during the run -- 18 for the game.\n"We always talk about having good starts in the second half," Wright said. "Sometimes we start off flat, sometimes we don't. This is one of the nights we came out and had a really good start to the second half -- more than we've ever had before."\nThe 79-62 win moves IU to 13-11, but more importantly 8-5 in the Big Ten with three conference games remaining as the Hoosiers look to sneak into the back door of the NCAA Tournament.\nIn Wright's second game back from injury, the junior continued his hot Assembly Hall shooting with 27 points. Sunday at Michigan, Wright scored just seven in his first game back, but eclipsed that total with 11 during the run Tuesday. \n"I felt good," Wright said. "It was all clicking for me tonight."\nThe Hoosiers' run was a team effort as five players scored. It started with Robert Vaden, who usually plays power forward, playing point guard, which brought the Boilermakers' 6-foot-7 forward Carl Landry away from the basket and relieved the pressure on junior Marshall Strickland. \nIU coach Mike Davis credited assistant coach Kerry Rupp for the decision.\n"That was probably the best adjustment all night that we made," Davis said. "It took pressure off of us. It started the offense. That's why he didn't put up a lot of points tonight because he brought the ball up and started the offense."\nVaden scored three points during the run but just nine for the game while handling the point duties.\nHoosier guards Roderick Wilmont and A.J. Ratliff got into the run's act as well with Wilmont's three giving the Hoosiers' a 12-point lead and Ratliff's hot shooting capping the run.\nWhen the Hoosiers looked up at the scoreboard eight minutes into the second half, they saw themselves leading 56-32. The crowd was roaring and everything was happy-go-lucky in Hoosier land. It was mop-up time from that point on as the closest the Boilermakers came was 15 points.\nIU trailed for the first 12 minutes of the first half before a Ratliff three earned the Hoosiers their first advantage, 21-19. IU never lost the lead for the rest of the game despite the Boilermakers' shooting 55 percent in the first half. \nA record fell in the first half as D.J. White eclipsed the Big Ten freshman mark for blocked shots in a season. White's first block of the game, his 51st, broke the record. In just the first half he had four blocks. White had 14 points for the game. \nHe said the announcement of his record-breaking first block -- which came with 18:32 in the first half -- caught him by surprise. \n"I'm listening to coach and I was like, 'What, for real?'" White said. "I kind of stopped them from coming so deep into the hole. That's what I want to create. I want teams to fear coming inside knowing that I'm there with my shot blocking presence."\nThe win sets the stage for a critical game Sunday when Michigan State comes calling to Bloomington. \n"We have an unbelievable, tough game on Sunday," Davis said. "They just play at a different level than everyone else. I'm happy now that our level of intensity has gone up."\n-- Contact Staff Writer John Rodgers at jprodger@indiana.edu.