Purdue ends regular season with win over Wisconsin, secures 4 seed

PDF: Purdue-Wisconsin box score

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On senior night, it was a sophomore and a freshman who carried Purdue.

Behind a barrage of P.J. Thompson three-pointers and second-half dominance from big man Caleb Swanigan, the 15th-ranked Boilermakers beat surging Wisconsin 91-80 to secure the 4 seed in this weekend's Big Ten Tournament, earning the coveted double-bye. Purdue, which finishes the regular season 24-7, 12-6 in the Big Ten, will play Friday afternoon against Iowa or the winner Illinois and Minnesota's first-round matchup.

Purdue continued its torrid offensive play lately, shooting 62 percent for the game, but had no answers early for Wisconsin, which raced out to an eight-point first-half lead behind the play of Nigel Hayes, who finished with 30.

But then Thompson made a three. Then another. And another.

Then, he beat the halftime buzzer with his fifth of the half, sending Purdue into the locker room up six, 45-39.

"P.J. not only kept us in it, but he gave us a lead," Coach Matt Painter said. "We were fighting to find a way to stop them. Wisconsin was in a really good rhythm."

Thompson was too, however.

With Wisconsin sagging off Thompson - a 41-percent three-point shooter in Big Ten play this season - to double the post, the point guard made the Badgers pay, five times on six tries from three-point range on the night.

"I got (shots) because of our spacing and ball movement and my teammates did a good job finding me," Thompson said, after scoring a career-high 22 points on just eight shots. "Their point guard was backing up off me so I was open and just shot it."

There was to it than that, though. Purdue was aggressive again offensively, looking for shots quickly in transition and more often than not, canning them. Vince Edwards made three first-half threes, too.

Thompson's, and Edwards', marksmanship put Purdue in position to win; Swanigan's ownership of the low post in the second finished the job.

The freshman scored 23 of his 27 points after halftime, so often getting the ball in ideal one-on-one post position around the basket.

After senior Rapheal Davis told teammates to play the second half like they were down six instead of up six during his halftime spiel, he fed Swanigan for an and-one to open second-half scoring. Then Edwards corralled a loose ball, tip-toed the sideline and streaked into transition for a one-handed dunk, which was followed by Swanigan's shot clock-beating jumper.

The 7-0 run, made possible by four straight stops on defense, put Purdue in position to salt the game away with Swanigan in the post and at the foul line the rest of the way.

"It kept them at a distance the whole game," Painter said of the strong start.

And the defense came around.

Wisconsin shot just 31.3 percent after halftime while Purdue shot 61.1, 62.2 for the game.

Purdue's last four games: 58.7 percent, 51.7 percent, 56.6 percent and now 62.2 percent.

Sunday night, it scored 91 on a team that came in leading the Big Ten in scoring defense. The Badgers had been allowing just 62.4 points per game.

It's been quite a run for Purdue, one it will certainly want to continue into the postseason.

"If guys are going to give us rhythm shots," Thompson said, "we feel like we're going to make them."

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