Illini succumb again to second-half blues

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue coach Matt Painter lit into his players as they headed off the floor in the first half.

Illinois coach Bruce Weber lit into his players inside an emotionally charged locker room at the end of Saturday's wild Big Ten affair.

Can you guess which team wound up happy at Mackey Arena?

Here's an extra clue: It wasn't the team that committed 7 turnovers in eight second-half possessions to squander a 9-point lead.

Here's yet another: It wasn't the team that missed 11 of 21 free throws, including a pair by freshman center Mike Tisdale that could have cut Purdue's lead to 1 with 3:32 to go.

The Boilermakers went on one final spree after those misses to run away with a 74-67 victory before a sellout of 14,123.

Illinois committed 15 of its season-high 21 turnovers after halftime to turn a promising start into a disastrous finish.

"I wasn't very happy," Weber said. "I tried not to blow up, but I did, probably, a little bit."

A lot, actually. With lots of meaty words. But not without good reason.

His Illini (9-10, 1-5) lost for the sixth time in seven games as they reverted to their traditional second-half tactics: going without a basket for a long stretch while allowing the other team to go wild.

Purdue (13-5, 4-1) didn't earn its first lead until Nemanja Calasan's layup with 12:40 to go. That was part of a 20-3 run that lasted more than seven minutes.

"It collapsed on us," said Illinois junior guard Trent Meacham. "That's a good way to put it. We played real well the first half and then they really picked up the pressure, really got into us.

"We didn't handle it for a good stretch there in the second half. That's when they won the game."

Everything looked swell for the Illini for the first 24 minutes.

Between the visitors' strong 3-point shooting and dominant rebounding, they built a 40-31 lead with 16:45 to go on Calvin Brock's putback.

But the low Mackey Arena roof started to cave in on Illinois' next possession.

Freshman point guard Demetri McCamey inexplicably passed the ball to center Shaun Pruitt while he was running in transition at the top of the key, which prompted a Pruitt travel.

That triggered a feeding frenzy during which the Illini committed 7 turnovers in four minutes. Purdue's defense picked up full court, overplayed everyone else beyond the 3-point arc, and allowed the crowd to get increasingly involved with each unnecessary miscue.

"We talk about seeing blood in the water," Painter said. "When there's blood in the water and they pick their dribble up, then you can get a steal."

While Purdue started scoring on one end and circling at the other, here's what Illinois did:

• Senior Brian Randle lost the ball on a drive that Purdue turned into a fastbreak tip-in.

• Freshman Mike Davis threw the ball away when he panicked after grabbing an offensive rebound.

• Randle, one possession after driving for a layup, traveled when he slipped on another baseline drive.

• Brock turned it over when he tried to get rid of the ball while falling down 35 feet from the hoop.

• Point guard Chester Frazier went over-and-back without a defender tight on him.

• McCamey threw a lazy bounce pass 25 feet from the hoop that was intercepted with ease.

Illinois never led again as sophomore guard Keaton Grant (career-high-tying 22 points) and junior center Calasan (17 points) scored whenever Purdue needed to counter a run.

Randle finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, while Pruitt added 15 points and 9 rebounds -- but the Illini were a fractured bunch down the stretch.

"Obviously we had some breakdowns out there," Randle said. "A couple miscommunications and then some outbursts on the court between one another, which is never good during the game.

"That's the most disappointing thing."