Boilermakers

JaJuan Johnson scored 17 points to lead No. 19 Purdue over No. 6 Michigan State, 72-54, last night and move the host Boilermakers within one game of the Spartans in the Big Ten standings. E'Twaun Moore scored 13 points and Robbie Hummel added 11 for Purdue in his first start since missing three games with a hairline fracture in his lower back. The Boilermakers (20-6, 9-4), who have five games left, won their third straight. The Boilermakers lost to Duke and Oklahoma early in the season, and entered this game without a win over any member of the current Top 25. "Tonight, we showed we can play with the best in the country," Purdue guard Chris Kramer said.

Twelfth-seeded Southwest Missouri State's beating fourth-seeded Tennessee wasn't a total surprise, but the 30-point margin certainly was. In yesterday's second-round game of the NCAA East Regional at the Charlotte Coliseum, Danny Moore, a 6-foot-11 senior, scored 25 points, and the Bears shot 52 percent and committed only six turnovers to win, 81-51, and become the first team in school history to win two NCAA tournament games. Southwest Missouri (22-10) held Tennessee (21-9)

Carson Cunningham is finally fitting in with his Purdue teammates. Carson scored 18 points, including 12 in succession in the second half, to help No. 9 Purdue hold off visiting Valparaiso, 78-70, last night in the opening round of the Boilermaker Invitational. Carson, a junior, transferred to Purdue from Oregon State, where he was runner-up for the Pacific 10 Conference freshman of the year award. "I got a nice little rhythm going. It felt good to finally help my teammates," Carson said.

Mateen Cleaves and Antonio Smith just didn't go along with Purdue's plan. Cleaves led Michigan State with 25 points, while Smith grabbed 15 rebounds as the visiting Spartans upset the fifth-ranked Boilermakers, 74-57, last night in the Big Ten opener for both teams. "Our plan was to keep the ball out of Cleaves's hands and keep Smith off the boards, and we didn't do either of those things," Purdue coach Gene Keady said. Cleaves was 9-for-18 from the field and 6-for-9 from the free throw line while adding eight assists for the Spartans (8-3)

The country's most prolific college quarterback needed only 12 more yards yesterday to become forever known as the Happy Valley Heartbreaker. Twelve more measly yards on top of the 379 he already had accumulated with his golden arm, and Purdue's Drew Brees could have sent Penn State home with its dreams in tatters. And Brees had four downs to do it in the tense final seconds. So how much angst was shooting through the Nittany Lions? "That was just way too close," Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington said, shaking his head.

Too many players. Too many big players. Too many good big players. With both teams possessing good size and physical styles of play, last night's Midwest Regional semifinal between second-seeded Purdue and third-seeded Stanford figured to be one of the NCAA Tournament's more rugged games. It lived up to expectations. But if a team is going get into a street fight, it always helps to have more big bodies than the other guys. Already fielding an imposing frontcourt in forwards Peter Sauer and Mark Madsen and center Tim Young, Stanford got a career bench contribution from freshman forward Jarron Collins to muscle Purdue out of the tournament, 67-59, at the Kiel Center.

If you were looking for buzzer-beating, tension-inducing, memory-creating NCAA basketball, the Midwest Regional was not the one to attend yesterday. It was almost like looking at four Notre Dame games. Well, not that bad. The four first-round games were decided by a total of 64 points. Only the Kansas State-La Salle game was in any doubt in the second half. Purdue was workmanlike in its 94-79 win over Fairleigh Dickinson. Memphis State, Purdue's next opponent tomorrow, had one awesome stretch and beat Baylor, 75-60.

Never mind that it was his 400th win with the Boilermakers, Purdue coach Gene Keady cared only that his team won. "I didn't even remember 400 wins was coming up. I just wanted us to play smart, play hard and play together," Keady said after the 14th-ranked Boilermakers won, 62-49, yesterday over visiting Eastern Illinois. Keady is now 438-188 in his career and 400-169 at Purdue. Greg McQuay led Purdue (6-1) with 19 points and nine rebounds. Brian Cardinal added 10 points for the Boilermakers.

Ashley Morris scored 19 points to help Temple beat No. 22 Purdue, 61-47, at the Paradise Jam in Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands. LaKeisha Eaddy added nine points for Temple (2-3), and Shenita Landry had eight points and eight rebounds. Danielle Campbell led Purdue (2-2) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Kalika France added eight points. Stanford 69, Old Dominion 61 - Kayla Pedersen had 21 points and 11 rebounds to help the No. 4 Cardinal (4-1) hold off the Monarchs (3-2)

This year's NCAA Women's Final Four is a different experience for Purdue coach Lin Dunn. "I realized when we qualified for the Final Four, one of the sacrifices I had to make was giving up being all-lobby," Dunn said, tongue in cheek, while preparing her Boilermakers for the trip from Indiana. A veteran of the lobby scene at the annual Women's Basketball Coaches Association convention, Dunn will be at courtside all week instead of holding court for her colleagues. Incredibly, when Purdue (29-4)

Bria Hartley scored 13 of her 16 points in the first half and top-seeded Connecticut (31-4) held eighth-seeded Kansas State (20-14) to an NCAA tournament record low for points in a game in a 72-26 second-round rout in Bridgeport, Conn., on Monday night. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis added 15 points and Kiah Stokes had 13 for the Huskies, who will play the winner of Tuesday's Penn State-Louisiana Sate game in Kingston, R.I., on Saturday in the regional semifinals. Stanford 72, West Virginia 55 - Amber Orrange had 18 points as the top-seeded Cardinal (33-1)

Purdue quarterback Caleb TerBush took the final snap, sprinted to the sideline, and handed the football to coach Danny Hope. Perhaps empowered by getting a contract extension recently, Hope made the gutsy decision to go for two onside kicks in the first half, and both gambles paid off for the Boilermakers in a 37-32 win over Western Michigan (7-6) on Tuesday night in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit. Raheem Mostert returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, third-string running back Reggie Pegram scored the first two TDs of his career, and Carson Wiggs made two field goals to give the Boilermakers a 27-15 lead at halftime.

Purdue extended head football coach Danny Hope 's contract for two additional years, through Dec. 31, 2016, the school announced Friday. Details are being finalized. Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke said in a statement that Hope has done a good job of developing players on and off the field. Purdue went 5-7 under Hope in 2009, then 4-8 in an injury-filled 2010. The Boilermakers struggled early this season, with early losses to Rice and Notre Dame. Purdue rallied and returned to postseason play for the first time in four years.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Michael Floyd had 12 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown to help Notre Dame defeat Purdue, 38-10, on Saturday night. Cierre Wood ran for a career-high 191 yards, Jonas Gray rushed for 94 yards, and Tommy Rees passed for 254 yards and three touchdowns for the Fighting Irish (3-2). Notre Dame outgained Purdue, 551 yards to 276, in its most dominant performance of the season. It was a season-high yardage total for the Irish and their third game with at least 500 yards of offense.

Michigan and Purdue took the men's and women's varsity heavyweight eight titles and left the annual event on the Schuylkill River as the big winners at the Dad Vail Regatta. The Michigan men covered the 2,000-meter course in 5:48.05, followed by Florida Tech (5:50.97) and Delaware (5:51.66) for its third men's varsity heavyweight title in program history. The Purdue women finished in 6:38.49, ahead of Old Dominion (6:38.82) and Grand Valley (6:43.43). Purdue led overall with a total of 41 points, followed by Michigan (33)

Big East Conference opponents Connecticut and Georgetown are headed for a clash in Philadelphia. Tiffany Hayes scored 23 points, Maya Moore added 16, and No. 1 UConn put on a defensive clinic Tuesday night to beat ninth-seeded Purdue, 64-40, Tuesday night in the second round of the women's NCAA tournament in Storrs, Conn. The Huskies (33-1) advanced to the regional semifinals for the 18th consecutive season, the longest active streak in the nation. The victory was UConn's 22d straight overall and 83d in a row at home.

Bernard James scored 14 points, Michael Snaer added 13, and Florida State showed there's more to its game than defense with a 71-57 upset of second-seeded Notre Dame on Sunday night in Chicago that put the Seminoles in the regional semifinals for the first time since 1993. It was an impressive effort by the 10th-seeded Seminoles, who had four players in double figures and were 9 of 19 from three-point range. Florida State (23-10) now faces upstart Virginia Commonwealth in the Southwest Regional semifinals Friday in San Antonio.

The question is no longer whether Virginia Commonwealth belongs. Instead, it's: Who can stop the Rams? Bradford Burgess scored 23 points and 11th-seeded VCU made it three victories in 5 days yesterday, routing third-seeded Purdue, 94-76, in Chicago, to earn a trip to the Southwest Regional semifinals. VCU's remarkable run sends the Rams to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. With their fans chanting "VCU, VCU" as the final seconds ticked off the clock, they've now ousted Southern Cal, Georgetown and Purdue since Wednesday night.

Second-seeded Notre Dame is deep, with Big East player of the year Ben Hansbrough and three others averaging in double figures. The Irish can shoot the three as well as almost any team. They don't turn the ball over and are well-behaved, not giving away many free points with fouls. "We have to make sure we're sound and try to make as few mistakes as we can," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said Saturday. Or just harass the heck out of the Irish (27-6) on Sunday night in Chicago.

Brandon Rozzell led four players in double figures and Virginia Commonwealth made 12 three-pointers to stun Georgetown with a 74-56 win that showed any remaining doubters the Rams do, indeed, belong in the NCAA tournament. Rozzell tied his career high with six three-pointers and finished with 26 points, while Joey Rodriguez had 17 points and seven assists. Bradford Burgess and Jamie Skeen added 12 each. It is the first time the 11th-seeded Rams (25-11) have won more than one game in the NCAA tournament, and they'll now play third-seeded Purdue on Sunday in the Southwest Regional.