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Purdue Men Knock Off #25 Iowa, 86-70

Casey Abbett
/
WBAA

Before another season of Big Ten Basketball could continue in West Lafayette, the crowd at Mackey Arena Thursday paid tribute to Tyler Trent, a former Purdue student turned national sensation, who died earlier in the week from a rare form of bone cancer. A moment of silence was held prior to the start.

Once the game started there was not a quiet moment for the rest of the night. Both teams shot well, but Iowa allowing Purdue 13 points off turnovers in the first half helped the Boilermakers jump out to a 17-point halftime lead that they'd never fully relinquish.

Purdue shot 63% from the field in the first half and its bench carried the day once again, scoring 24 points in the first half to Iowa's four. The bench would finish with 39 points total, led by center Matt Haarms, with 14 points on 4-6 shooting, and a team high five rebounds. Freshman Aaron Wheeler chipped in ten points to go with four assists and four boards as Purdue finished with 42 points in the paint.

Iowa forward Tyler Cook led all scorers with 24 points and also grabbed six rebounds.

With the win, Purdue improves to 2-1 in the Big Ten and 9-5 overall. Purdue will go on a road trip up north to face the #8 Michigan State Spartans and then the #22 Wisconsin Badgers next week.

Casey Abbett is a senior at Purdue from LaCrosse, Indiana, and has been been interning as a sports reporter for WBAA since his freshman year.