Chad Austin scored 24 points and Mike Robinson added 12 for Purdue (5-2), whose losses have come to top 10 opponents. The Boilermakers lost to North Carolina in the championship game of the Great Alaska Shootout.
"I'm not happy to say the least," fumed Boilermakers coach Gene Keady. "Teams that don't compete or practice hard are not on my high list. We are a bunch of wannabes that can't play with the big boys, so we've got a lot of work to do. Because right now, we can't compete."
Purdue closed within 42-40 on a 3-pointer by Alan Eldridge 28 seconds into the second half, but the Wildcats held Purdue scoreless for the next 4:24 as they took control of the game.
Sheppard drilled a 3-pointer and added a fast-break layup around a missed 3-pointer by Austin that pushed Kentucky's lead to 47-40. Scott Padgett had a steal that led to a layup by Jamaal Magliore before a steal by Sheppard led to a layup by Turner for a 51-40 bulge. Mohammed capped the spurt with a layup that gave the Wildcats a 53-40 advantage with 15:08 remaining.
The Boilermakers closed within 56-50 at the 11:25 mark following a 3-pointer from Gary McQuay, but Kentucky put the game out of reach with a 9-0 tear. Heshimu Evans made two free throws and Magliore followed with a tip-in before Saul Smith drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner to give Kentucky a 63-50 lead with 9:27 remaining. Mohammed capped the run with a tip-in with 8:50 to play. Purdue came no closer than nine points down the stretch.
"I'm pretty happy because this was a big win and we needed it," said Mohammed, a native of Chicago. "We've got some momentum going and we're picking up what coach is trying to teach us. We have a pretty good team because we have a lot of guys who can be the man on any given night."
Mohammed and Magliore, who rotate at center, combined for 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting. They also frustrated Purdue counterpart Brad Miller, who was held to 10 points, almost seven below his average. Kentucky, which received 39 points from its bench, shot 49 percent (31-of-63) from the field and hit 8-of-16 3-point shots. The Wildcats also outscored Purdue in the paint, 42-24.
(7) Kentucky 89, (5) Purdue 75 PURDUE (75) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp Cardinal 31 3-10 5-6 2-4 5 4 12 Cornell 16 2-4 1-2 1-2 1 4 6 Miller 33 4-9 2-3 4-14 3 3 10 Austin 32 8-18 4-6 3-6 1 0 24 Eldridge 30 2-8 2-2 1-2 4 1 8 McQuay 15 1-5 0-1 1-3 1 3 3 Mayfield 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 Robinson 24 5-10 2-3 4-4 0 1 12 Barnes 7 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Kerkhof 1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0 _______________________________________________ TOTALS 200 25-64 16-23 16-37 16 19 75 _______________________________________________ Percentages: FG-.391, FT-.696. 3-Point Goals: 9-23, .391 (Cardinal 1-3, Cornell 1-2, Miller 0-1, Austin 4-9, Eldridge 2-4, McQuay 1-2, Robinson 0-2). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 7 (Miller 4, Cardinal, McQuay, Robinson). Turnovers: 22 (Austin 5, Eldridge 4, Miller 4, Cardinal 3, Mayfield 2, Barnes, Cornell, McQuay, Robinson). Steals: 12 (Cardinal 4, Eldridge 3, Miller 2, Austin, Cornell, Robinson). KENTUCKY (89) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp Padgett 32 4-11 0-0 4-9 2 4 10 Edwards 18 2-5 4-6 0-0 4 5 9 Magloire 22 2-4 2-5 1-6 1 4 6 Sheppard 18 4-9 2-4 3-5 1 2 11 Turner 34 6-13 2-3 2-4 8 1 14 Evans 24 2-7 2-2 0-5 6 3 7 Mohammed 18 8-10 3-4 4-5 0 0 19 Mills 7 0-1 2-2 0-1 0 1 2 Smith 18 1-1 1-2 0-2 0 2 4 Anthony 5 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 3 Hogan 2 1-1 1-2 0-0 0 0 4 Bradley 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 _______________________________________________ TOTALS 200 31-63 19-30 14-38 22 22 89 _______________________________________________ Percentages: FG-.492, FT-.633. 3-Point Goals: 8-16, .500 (Padgett 2-4, Edwards 1-3, Sheppard 1-2, Turner 0-1, Evans 1-2, Mills 0-1, Smith 1-1, Anthony 1-1, Hogan 1-1). Team rebounds: 9. Blocked shots: 1 (Mohammed). Turnovers: 19 (Evans 4, Mills 3, Turner 3, Mohammed 2, Padgett 2, Edwards, Hogan, Magloire, Sheppard, Smith). Steals: 13 (Padgett 4, Sheppard 2, Smith 2, Turner 2, Edwards, Evans, Mohammed). __________________________________ Purdue 37 38 - 75 Kentucky 42 47 - 89 __________________________________ Technical fouls: None. A: 19,567. Officials: Larry Rose, Bryan Kersey, Leslie Jones.