WEST LAFAYETTE—When Caleb Swanigan and Isaac Haas are in sync, it’s difficult trying to name a better power forward-center combination in college basketball.No. 21 Purdue’s two interior players certainly were in sync on Tuesday night against outmanned Illinois.Haas had 24 points and six rebounds, and power forward Swanigan added 22 points and 10 rebounds in the Boilermakers’ dominating 91-68 victory.Haas scored 13 points in the second half when the Boilermakers (15-4, 4-2 Big Ten) led by as many as 27. Swanigan had a four-point first half but was almost unstoppable during the second half, accounting for 18 points and five rebounds.
”It was Illinois’ game plan not to double us,” Swanigan said. ”You could hear their coaches yelling to them to pressure the ball. That was their game plan, and we had success with it.”
Purdue placed five players in double figures, also getting 14 from freshman guard Carsen Edwards, 11 from forward Vince Edwards – no relation – and 10 from point guard P.J. Thompson.
”We have to have balance, and we did that tonight,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. ”When Isaac got the ball deep like he did tonight, that’s hard to stop. When Isaac is good and efficient, it really puts the other team in a bind.”
Illinois (12-7, 2-4) got 15 points from Maverick Morgan and 12 from Malcolm Hill but had no answer for the Boilermakers’ two post players, each of whom had his way around the basket.With this victory, Purdue leads the all-time series with Illinois, 100-87.
Wesley Matthews made a go-ahead 3-pointer from the wing with 12 seconds left, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Bulls 99-98 on Tuesday night for their first three-game winning streak of the season.Six players scored in double figures for the Mavericks, including all five starters. Harrison Barnes had 20 points, Seth Curry added 18 and Dirk Nowitzki finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.Dallas trailed 98-96 after Jimmy Butler made a long jumper over Matthews with 23 seconds left, but Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle decided against a timeout and Deron Williams drove into the lane before kicking out to Matthews for the 3. The Bulls had one last chance, but Dwyane Wade missed a potential game-winning jumper from the corner on his 35th birthday as time expired.