Purdue's Hart takes heart out of Illini in 84-78 loss
CHAMPAIGN - During a rare lull late in the first half, Illinois coach Bruce Weber turned to his assistants and, in an uncharacteristically calm tone, spoke the following truth:
"They're lucky we're not up 15 points. We just keep playing dumb."
The Illini led No. 13 Purdue by 8 at that point during their frantic Big Ten battle Tuesday night, so Weber's lament didn't seem dire at the time.
As it turned out, Illinois needed all 15 points of Weber's hypothetical lead in order to stay perfect at Assembly Hall.
Purdue seized control early in the second half and never let go for an exhausting 84-78 triumph before a disheartened sellout crowd.
"If you're plus-9 on the glass (at halftime) and you're only up 4 points," said Purdue coach Matt Painter, "then you didn't take those opportunities and make the most of them."
It would've been one thing if Illinois (12-7, 4-2) suffered its first home loss because the Boilers rode their terrific trio of juniors.
Instead, redshirt freshman guard John Hart, who never had played in a Big Ten game and wasn't even listed in the score book due to a clerical error that cost the Boilers 2 points on a technical, delivered a career-high 14 points in 18 minutes off the bench.
"Pretty good tradeout," said Painter, who benched senior guards Keaton Grant and Chris Kramer for the first time. "I just thought (Hart) played harder than the other guys."
Illini guard Demetri McCamey said his team didn't have a scouting report on Hart.
Perhaps that explains why Hart's open 3-pointer from the corner put Purdue (15-3, 2-4) ahead for good with 18:43 to go.
The Illini drilled 4 3-pointers in a 70-second stretch to chop a 12-point deficit to 3 with 0:22 left, but they couldn't swipe multiple inbounds passes to get any closer.
Hart and fellow freshman guard Kelsey Barlow (12 points in his first start) provided unexpected complements to the usual showings by juniors JaJuan Johnson (24 points, 12 rebounds), E'Twaun Moore (16 points) and Robbie Hummel (11 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists).
Purdue's balanced attack - and that's the correct word as the visitors kept driving to the rim or passing to Johnson in the post - outdueled Illinois' two-man army.
McCamey, forced to create something on almost every second-half possession against the Boilers' overplaying man-to-man, piled up a season-high 28 points with 9 assists.
Mike Davis, who dominated the boards in the first half, rediscovered his shooting touch in the second half to finish with 17 points and 15 rebounds.
"We're a good team ourself," McCamey said. "We've just got to play smarter and play better. We've got to play well as a unit.
"We can't have a couple of guys play well and everybody else is lollygagging and things like that. We've got to come together as a group and play team basketball like Illinois is supposed to do."