It’s the sharpshooter’s mantra: If the 3-pointers aren’t falling, just keep putting them up.

Even if the shooter in question stands 6-11.

Big man Brian Butch hit a career-high four 3-pointers, helping No. 10 Wisconsin shake loose from No. 19 Michigan State with a late run for a 57-42 victory Thursday night.

“It’s one of those things where as a shooter, you just keep on shooting the ball,” Butch said. “At some point, they’re going to go down.”

They certainly did Thursday, powering Wisconsin (24-4, 14-2 Big Ten) to its fifth straight victory. The Badgers’ 14th conference win established a school record, and Wisconsin also set a school record with only one turnover Thursday

Wisconsin’s lone turnover was charged to Joe Krabbenhoft, earning the junior a good-natured ribbing after the game.

“It’s too many,” Badgers coach Bo Ryan said. “We got on Joe in the locker room.”

Things weren’t so funny for Michigan State (22-6, 10-5), which has lost three of its last five—including three straight road games.

The Spartans came in as one of the nation’s best-shooting teams, but ran into one of the country’s stingiest defensive teams in Wisconsin. It ended in Michigan State’s second-lowest point total of the season, topping only the Spartans’ 36-point outing in a loss at Iowa Jan. 12.

Led by the defense of guard Michael Flowers, Wisconsin held Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel to a single 3-pointer on 1-for-10 shooting and forced him to pass up good shots in the second half.

“It frustrated Neitzel,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. “By the time he got some open looks in the second half, I think he was frustrated. Flowers is a very good defender, one of the better defenders in this league.”

Neitzel, coming off a 4-for-15 outing in the Spartans’ Feb. 23 victory over Iowa, began Thursday’s game 0-for-6, missing all five of his shots in the first half.

“He did a good job keeping me off balance,” Neitzel said of Flowers. “Sometimes coming off screens I was open, but I thought he’d be right there on me so I hesitated a little bit.”

Badgers guard Trevon Hughes praised his teammate’s defense.

“He’s got a motor,” Hughes said. “He feeds off of oil. I don’t think he eats regular food.”

Neitzel was scoreless until he hit a 3-pointer with 9:51 left, cutting the Badgers’ lead to 37-33.

But Butch took over soon after.

His 3-pointer from the left wing put Wisconsin ahead 45-34 with 6 minutes left, and Butch hit another long-range shot at the 4:15 mark to extend the Badgers’ lead to 14, capping an 11-2 run.

“If Brian doesn’t hit those two threes, that’s still probably a three or four possession game” Ryan said. “But when Brian did hit those, it opened it up.”

Butch finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. He was 4-for-6 from 3-point range—a marked difference from the first 18 games of the season, when he was 3-for-32 from beyond the arc. In the Badgers’ last 10 games, Butch has hit 15 of 25 3s.

Izzo said the Spartans were on the lookout for Butch’s outside shooting, but were so focused on keeping Wisconsin’s interior players from getting to the free-throw line that their perimeter defense suffered.

“We had a couple missed assignments when Butch hit some of those 3s, and that’s disappointing,” Izzo said.

Wisconsin also cranked up its defense on Goran Suton after letting him score 12 points and grab nine rebounds in the first half—including 10 points and six rebounds in first 9 minutes of the game, despite being benched and briefly scolded by Izzo after an early foul.

The Badgers held Suton to two points in the second half, but Suton said it was a lack of scoring opportunities rather than a defensive adjustment.

“It was me more than anything,” Suton said. “We didn’t get the ball to me in the second half. That was probably our fault and my fault.”

The Badgers have the weekend off, but Ryan wasn’t so sure he’d be watching conference rivals play on television.

“I don’t have the Big Ten Network, so that’s going to be tough,” Ryan deadpanned.

Purdue’s Keaton Grant didn’t start the first half against Minnesota. He couldn’t have finished it better.

Grant, a regular starter who didn’t practice Monday or Tuesday because he had the flu, hit a shot from just inside halfcourt as time expired in the first half, giving the 16th-ranked Boilermakers a three-point lead. Purdue carried the momentum from that shot to a 65-53 win Wednesday that gave the Boilermakers a share of the Big Ten lead.

“That was a big play,” Purdue’s Robbie Hummel said. “When that happens, it just kills you if you are on defense. They had the momentum, then Keaton hit that shot, and that just turned things around.”

E’Twaun Moore scored 22 points, Hummel had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Grant added 11 points for Purdue (22-6, 13-2 Big Ten), which is tied with Wisconsin and Indiana for the conference lead

Lawrence McKenzie led Minnesota (17-10, 7-8) with 13 points. Dan Coleman had 10 points and 13 rebounds and Spencer Tollackson had 10 points in Minnesota’s second-lowest scoring game of the season.

It was Purdue’s first game since a Feb. 19 loss at Indiana, a game that halted an 11-game winning streak.

“Coming off of the loss, we knew that we had to want it tonight, and we knew that we were going to have to put it all together,” Moore said.

The victory over Minnesota gave the Boilermakers their best start since the 1997-98 season.

Purdue held Minnesota to 36 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers to offset the Gophers’ 43-29 rebounding edge.

The Boilermakers kept Minnesota scoreless for the first five minutes of the second half and took a 34-26 lead.

Purdue was building its lead when Moore, as if on cue, made a layup just as the student section finished singing the school fight song to give the Boilermakers a 42-29 edge.

A 3-pointer by Moore gave Purdue a 51-35 lead with 7:35 to play, and the game wasn’t close after that.

“E’Twaun’s a pretty talented athlete,” Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said. “He’s quick. He knows how to play the game. He knows how to get open, and they were able to find him.”

The game got increasingly rough in the second half, and there was a near altercation with just over two minutes to play after Hummel was tied up. Several players converged at midcourt, but order was restored before things escalated.

“Rebounding was getting kind of crazy down there, but that’s the way they call it,” Hummel said. “This is the Big Ten. We’ll just adjust to that style of play.”

Smith didn’t explain it away so easily, saying: “I just think we lost our composure.”

Purdue led 19-9 with 8:20 left in the first half before Minnesota went on a 15-2 run to take a 24-21 lead.

Grant answered with a 3-pointer to tie the score with a minute left in the half.

Purdue’s Tarrance Crump hit a mid-range jumper with 28 seconds left, then McKenzie tied the game on a layup before Grant hit his long shot.

“I didn’t know which play coach was running, he just told me to curl off whatever screen got set, then he just told me to shoot the ball,” Grant said.

Grant’s shot allowed Purdue to get away with shooting 35 percent in the first half.

“We were a little rusty,” he said. “We had a week off, we wasn’t moving. We were standing still the majority of the time. Once we got into the flow of the game and once we stopped standing, then we was cool.”

Smith was disappointed the Gophers shot just 30 percent after halftime.

“Certainly, in the second half, we just couldn’t buy a shot,” he said. “We couldn’t do the little things. I guess the pressure got to us.”

The Indiana basketball coaching staff has been hoping for some time that a player like Armon Bassett would step up and be IU’s third scoring option behind Eric Gordon and D.J. White.

Lately, however, the sophomore guard has been the scoring option for the Hoosiers.

Three days after scoring 24 against Northwestern, Bassett had a game-high 23 points Tuesday night to lead No. 12 Indiana to a 72-69 victory over Ohio State before 17,389 at Assembly Hall.

Bassett hit 7-of-11 shots from the field, including 4-of-8 3-pointers. He also had four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 36 minutes. He has posted back-to-back games of 20 points or more for the first time in his career.

“I’ve been trying to attack more,” Bassett said. “Obviously D.J. and E.J. (Gordon) are our focal points on offense, but I’ve been trying to be more aggressive while at the same time stay in the team mode. I think I’ve been able to do that.”

The victory moved Indiana (24-4, 13-2 Big Ten) into a first-place tie with Wisconsin, a half game ahead of Purdue. The Boilers can make it a three-way tie with a win tonight at home against Minnesota.

Interim coach Dan Dakich, who improved to 2-0 since taking over the team last Friday following the resignation of Kelvin Sampson, said he talked to Bassett about being more aggressive.

“The only thing I’ve said to him is that we’re really good when you’re aggressive,” Dakich said. “I think he’s a really good player. He’s working hard and I just think he’s playing really hard. I think he’s been a leader for us on both ends, offensively and defensively.”

White had 16 points and eight rebounds, despite requiring an IV for the second game in a row because of dehydration. Dakich said his senior forward has been battling the flu and has lost some weight.

And then there was Gordon, who had 17 points in 40 minutes of action. The freshman guard had a particularly interesting statistical line. He was just 4-of-16 from the field, including 1-of-8 from 3-point range, and had seven of IU’s 13 turnovers.

But he also scored eight points in the final four minutes. Six were at the free throw line, including converting a pair of one-and-one opportunities. His biggest play was a follow slam dunk off a missed 3-pointer by Lance Stemler with 1:51 to play. That put IU up 60-54.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta admitted that if he knew before the game that Gordon would go 4-of-16 from the field he would have felt pretty good. But he quickly pointed out the play of Bassett.

“I think they’re just a terrific basketball team,” Matta said. “When (Jordan) Crawford gets going, and then all of a sudden (Lance) Stemler starts making 3s, they’ve got a lot of weapons out there that can really stretch the defense.

“I think they’re a team that can get on a roll. And I think that will be imperative in college basketball this year. The best one is going to win the national championship.”

Indiana jumped out to an eight-point lead in the first seven minutes, and were up by as many as 13 in the first half at 30-17 following a 3-pointer by Bassett. Bassett came around a screen by White at the top of the key to hit that shot with 2:35 remaining. IU still led by nine at the break, 30-21.

The Buckeyes (17-11, 8-7) cut the lead to one at 42-41 on a 15-footer by Kosta Koufos with 10:57 to play. Koufos scored 18 of his team-high 21 points in the second half. Ohio State kept the deficit within 4-6 points most of the final 3 minutes. But Indiana, the top free throw shooting team in the Big Ten, made 19-of-24 foul shots including 9-of-10 in the final minute.

Rex Grossman signed a one-year contract Saturday with the Chicago Bears and will compete for the starting quarterback job.

Grossman, a 2003 first-round draft pick, started the Super Bowl for the Bears after an up-and-down season in 2006. He struggled again last year and was benched following the third game. He returned for five more games before injuring his left knee.

Grossman passed for 913 yards with three touchdowns and one interception for an 80.2 passer rating when he returned. In the first three games, his 45.2 rating with one TD and six interceptions contributed to the Bears’ 1-2 start.

“Rex has won a lot of football games for us around here,” coach Lovie Smith said. “You look at how he played at the end of the football season until he came up with that injury, he is playing good football.”

Grossman has started 30 games with 489 completions in 900 attempts (54.3 percent) for 5,907 yards with 31 touchdowns and 33 interceptions. His career passer rating is 70.9.

“We wanted him because we feel like he gives us the best opportunity to be the best team we can be going into this next season,” general manager Jerry Angelo said.

Angelo confirmed Grossman will battle Kyle Orton for the starting quarterback spot and that there could be two other quarterbacks on the roster next season. Angelo did not include veteran backup Brian Griese in those plans, and it’s possible Griese will be cut in early March before he is due a $300,000 roster bonus.

“It’s an open competition,” Smith said. “It’s not like we promised Rex a starting position, or any of the guys a starting position. They’re coming to Chicago because they feel good about competing for the starting job.”

Angelo said stabilizing the quarterback position is the team’s biggest priority, but Grossman’s contract doesn’t help much because he would be a free agent after the 2008 season without a contract extension.

“With one-year deals you’re not solving anything,” Angelo said. “You’re still in the hunt, so to speak. We certainly feel good about the people who are contending at the position, but it’s not solved yet.”

The Bears hope signing Grossman provides leverage to bring wide receiver Bernard Berrian back to the team. He becomes a free agent Friday.

“We’re using everything we possibly can,” Smith said. “Bernard has been a big part of what we’ve done. He’s come up through the ranks with us.

“We’d like to see him finish it at our place. Hopefully, signing guys like Rex will help.”

Agent Drew Rosenhaus said Saturday he expects Berrian and fellow client Lance Briggs to enter free agency rather than sign a contract with the Bears.

“I would say at this time I would project that those guys would at least get to free agency, or at least the beginning of it” Rosenhaus said at the NFL scouting combine. “But the Bears are going to be in the mix as we continue to talk with other teams.

“We’re going to have a good, healthy dialogue with them.”

Dan Dakich received what likely is his dream job Friday, but under nightmarish circumstances.

The former Indiana player and assistant coach was named the interim head coach to replace Kelvin Sampson, but faces immediate controversy in the form of boycotting players and a snubbed assistant coach.

Only seven players showed up for Dakich’s first practice at Assembly Hall on Friday afternoon. Among the six missing players were starters D.J. White, Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis. Every player attended a walkthrough Friday night, however.

Sampson’s lead assistant, Ray McCallum, will remain on the staff as the assistant head coach.

McCallum, a native of Muncie and a former head coach at Ball State and Houston, was joined by his wife in a two-hour meeting in athletic director Rick Greenspan’s office while the team was practicing.

McCallum declined to comment to reporters as he left Assembly Hall.

Greenspan would not say whether the players who skipped practice were angry over Sampson’s dismissal or Dakich’s promotion.

“You’d be better served to ask them,” Greenspan said. “I’m not going to speak for the players.”

The players refused comment as they entered and left practice Friday and weren’t available during the news conference later that night.

McCallum’s ties to Sampson were thought to be an issue in Dakich’s promotion. However, a university news release issued shortly before Friday’s 9 p.m. news conference praised McCallum’s “integrity and exceptional dedication to the game,” and Greenspan echoed those sentiments.

“It was very important for both Ray and Dan to point out that we have not had any concerns expressed to us in any way about any allegations about any NCAA issues,” Greenspan said. “I know for both of them that’s important for the public to understand.”

Why Dakich, then?

“I felt it was the right choice,” Greenspan said.

Dakich was not available for comment Friday but issued a statement through the university.

“Indiana University and the basketball program have played an important role in my life,” he said. “I want nothing but the best for these players and the institution. The challenge ahead is to maintain the positive momentum that has been built within the team and to keep everyone as focused as possible during this difficult time.”

Dakich will not be available to the media until after tonight’s game at Northwestern.

Greenspan said no decision has been made whether to add an assistant coach. Former Indiana star Damon Bailey aroused speculation when he showed up at Assembly Hall on Friday afternoon, but Greenspan said he was not aware of that.

Dakich, 45, becomes IU’s second interim coach in a turbulent decade for the program.

Mike Davis worked on an interim basis in the 2000-01 season after Bob Knight was fired, and then was hired full time. IU finished 21-13 overall and 10-6 in the Big Ten that season.

Dakich compiled a 156-140 record at Bowling Green (1997-2007). His contract was not renewed after last season. His teams won one Mid-American Conference title but were a combined 22-39 in his final two injury-plagued seasons.

Dakich, who averaged 3.6 points during his playing career with Knight, bears several similarities to his mentor. He was a slow-footed player who had a mediocre college career, and went on to become a hard-driving coach who sometimes alienated players with his intensity but also developed strong bonds with many of them.

Dakich also appeared to earn the respect of IU’s players during his 12 seasons as an assistant coach.

“Danny was a competitor,” 1989 graduate Joe Hillman said. “He competed and scrapped, and he got everything out of what he had. He was just a great competitive guy. He was very, very knowledgeable about the game.”

Indiana basketball coach Kelvin Sampson could be fired if allegations of recent NCAA violations at the school are determined to be true.

The NCAA, quite simply, has branded Sampson a cheat and a liar. That’s essentially what the 14-page “Notice of Allegations” the organization has sent to the school means. More specifically, that notice claims he violated recruiting restrictions imposed on him for his previous involvement in violations at Oklahoma and then denied doing that. In all, it cites five major violations.

Athletic director Rick Greenspan indicated Sampson’s future is tenuous

“I expect him to coach tonight. I expect him to coach for the foreseeable future,” he said Wednesday, 90 minutes before the Hoosiers lost to Wisconsin.

“I’ll let you editorialize as to what ‘foreseeable future’ means. But we have work to do, which is expected of us. We are not going to rush to judgment.”

What Greenspan and the school’s administration must determine is how to react to the charges. Sampson is accused of violating recruiting restrictions imposed on him for his previous involvement in violations at Oklahoma and then denying that he did that.

Sampson already has had to forfeit a $500,000 pay raise and one scholarship next season in penalties the school previously had imposed.

Sampson, the notice says, “Acted contrary to the NCAA principles of ethical conduct … failed to deport himself in accordance with the generally recognized high standard of honesty … by providing the institution and the NCAA enforcement staff false or misleading information; and … failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance within the men’s basketball program.”

In a statement released before his news conference, Greenspan said: “We view these allegations with grave concern and will cooperate fully with the NCAA as they adjudicate these charges.”

“I have never intentionally provided false or misleading information to the NCAA,” Sampson read from a prepared statement after his Hoosiers lost 68-66 to Wisconsin. “I intend to work within the NCAA process on this matter.”

Indiana has until May 8 to provide a written response to the notice. The school then is expected to appear June 14 before the Division I Committee on Infractions.

According to its contract with Sampson, it appears Indiana could fire him if it chooses.

His contract stipulates: “If the Employee is found to be in violation of any NCAA regulations, the Employee shall be subject to disciplinary or corrective action … including suspension without pay or termination of employment for significant or repetitive violations.”

It also notes that the school can terminate the deal for “just cause.” One definition of that term is: “A significant, intentional, or repetitive violation of any law, rule, regulation, constitutional provision, bylaw or interpretation … [of] the NCAA.”

Another definition, notable because it so parallels the words in one of the charges, is the “Failure to maintain an environment in which the coaching staff complies with NCAA … rules and regulations.”

In May 2006, the NCAA found Sampson guilty of violating rules at Oklahoma by making numerous, impermissible phone calls to prospective players and sanctioned the Sooners. Indiana, which had hired Sampson the previous March, adopted and transferred some of those penalties, most notably the one limiting the number of permissible calls he could make.

It is that sanction that he, assistant coach Jeff Meyer and former assistant Rob Senderoff now are charged with routinely ignoring.

“Senderoff and Meyer placed approximately 100 telephone calls that violated the … recruiting restriction,” it says at one point in the notice.

It also states: “On a number of occasions … Sampson was present while a member of his coaching staff made telephone calls related to recruiting. Sampson was prohibited from doing so …”

“Concerning Sampson’s provision of false or misleading information, Sampson repeatedly provided the institution and the enforcement staff false information regarding his involvement in violations.”

Indiana has received a list of alleged violations from the NCAA and is expected to make it public Wednesday.

University trustees president Stephen Ferguson told The Associated Press on Tuesday night that school officials this week reviewed a report, which stems from impermissible phone calls made by basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff during 2006 and 2007.

The NCAA is not expected to make its ruling until this summer

There won’t be a hearing till this June,” Ferguson said. “It’s just been reviewed, and I think everyone is analyzing it now.”

Ferguson would not detail what is contained in the report.

It comes in response to October’s announcement that a university investigation found Sampson made more than 100 impermissible phone calls while still on NCAA probation for infractions he committed during his tenure at Oklahoma.

Sampson was found to have made 577 impermissible calls from 2000 to 2004 and was punished by the NCAA in May 2006, less than two months after taking the Indiana job. Sampson was banned from calling recruits and making off-campus visits for one year.

Among the restrictions imposed on Sampson was a provision that did not allow him to participate in three-way calls. But the university found Sampson was involved in at least 10 three-way calls, most patched through by then assistant coach Rob Senderoff.

Sampson said in October he was unaware he was participating in a three-way conversation on nine occasions. He also explained Senderoff was helping recruits reach Sampson, in part because Sampson’s cell phone signal often dropped. Recruits then, Sampson said, would call back Senderoff seeking assistance.

NCAA rules do not prohibit three-way calls, although Sampson’s sanctions did.

The university then imposed its own sanctions on Sampson — forfeiting a $500,000 pay raise and one scholarship next season. Senderoff also was punished by forfeiting any bonuses or salary increases for one year and later resigned.

The university now has until May to respond to the report, before going before the NCAA in June.

“The report came out in October, the university filed its response and there’s really not been anything happening (on the board) in the last five months,” Ferguson said. “There have not been any discussions.”

Sampson’s Hoosiers have ignored the potential distractions from the investigation, posting a 20-3 mark and earning the No. 13 ranking in the latest AP poll. Indiana, at 9-1 in the Big Ten currently trails only No. 19 Purdue in the conference title chase.

Surveying the Big Ten schedule prior to the season, it seemed probable that the conference’s best team would be on the floor at Mackey Arena on Tuesday night.

Few would have guessed that team would be Purdue.

The 19th-ranked Boilermakers (19-5, 10-1) look to win a 10th straight game for the first time in nearly 12 years Tuesday when they face No. 10 Michigan State, which dealt Purdue its lone Big Ten loss.

The last time the Boilermakers won 10 in a row was during the 1995-96 season, when they won 11 straight conference games on their way to their third consecutive Big Ten title.

Michigan State (20-3, 8-2) was the popular pick to win the conference in 2007-08, and the Spartans looked like a solid bet to do so Jan. 8 when they beat Purdue 78-75. In that game, coach Tom Izzo’s team shot a season-high 61.0 percent en route to its 11th straight victory.

The Boilermakers, however, haven’t lost since. They defeated then-No. 8 Wisconsin 72-67 on the road Saturday for their first win over a top 10 team since knocking off then-No. 2 Duke 78-68 on Nov. 29, 2003.

Purdue finds itself alone atop the Big Ten.

“(When) they pick you eighth or ninth in the league, it’s tough to publicly talk about winning a championship. It really is,” coach Matt Painter said.

Freshman Robbie Hummel, who had 17 points in a win over Penn State on Tuesday, scored a season-high 21 at Wisconsin and was named Big Ten player of the week.

Hummel is one of four freshmen who average at least 6.0 points for the Boilermakers. Freshman E’Twaun Moore, who leads the team with 11.2 points per game, was the player of the week immediately before Hummel.

Six of the team’s top seven scorers are freshmen or sophomores.

“Everybody still talks about us as the Baby Boilers,” said sophomore Chris Kramer, who had 12 points against the Badgers. “I think we use that as motivation, that we have something to prove still. We’re still not getting any credit for the stuff we’ve accomplished.”

Purdue has never beaten top 10 teams in back-to-back games, but will get its fifth chance to do so when it faces Michigan State.

The Spartans have won six of eight since their first meeting with the Boilermakers, but both losses were alarming ones that came against a pair of lower-tier Big Ten squads.

Michigan State allowed a season high in points in an 85-76 loss at Penn State on Feb. 2, and recorded its lowest point total in nearly 57 years in a 43-36 defeat at Iowa on Jan. 13.

Their previous low in the shot clock era came in their most recent trip to West Lafayette, a 62-38 loss to Purdue on Feb. 7, 2007.

Michigan State is coming off a 70-55 win over Northwestern on Saturday, its 18th straight home victory. Preseason Big Ten player of the year Drew Neitzel tied a season-high with 21 points, rebounding from a six-point, 2-of-10 shooting effort against the Nittany Lions.

“I just wanted to be patient and not force shots at the beginning,” Neitzel said after not taking a shot for the first 12 minutes Saturday. “But that won’t work next week at Purdue … I’ll have to be more aggressive and carry the team at times.”

Sophomore Raymar Morgan did his part to carry the Spartans earlier in the season, and he leads the team with 15.8 points per game. He’s been less of a factor lately, scoring 10 points or fewer in five of his last eight games.

Michigan State is the best rebounding team in the Big Ten (38.9 per game) and is led by Goran Suton with an 8.4 average, while Purdue is second-to-last (32.8). The Spartans outrebounded the Boilermakers 34-26 in their first meeting.

From the time he replaced Gene Keady three seasons ago, Matt Painter has preached defense.

That emphasis has paid huge dividends in a pair of victories against eighth-ranked Wisconsin — 60-56 on Jan. 26 in Mackey Arena and 72-67 late Saturday night in the Kohl Center.

At Mackey, Trevon Hughes, Marcus Landry and Michael Flowers were a collective 9 of 28 from the field for Wisconsin, including 2 of 6 from 3-point range, for 21 points.

In Saturday night’s rematch, those three were 7 of 28 from the field, 0 of 10 from beyond the arc, for 26 points.

“We made them take tough jumpshots that we contested,” Purdue guard Chris Kramer said. “Our defense puts us in a great position to win basketball games … creating turnovers and getting easy baskets.

“With defense, you have to be aggressive but smart. When you are in the middle of the court, you can’t hand-check. That’s what our problem is. You have to pick your spots when you are going to be aggressive. When you see blood in the water, that’s your spot.”

Painter appeared puzzled when asked how Purdue has shut down three of Wisconsin’s top four scorers.

“To be honest with you, I really don’t know,” Painter said. “Since Wisconsin has such good balance in their scoring, we don’t really gun for any of them. We talk about their strengths, and we talk about what they are trying to do in their swing offense.”

Lots of poise

Opponents have been impressed by Purdue’s ability to win nine consecutive Big Ten games, including four in a row on the road.

“Everybody still talks about as us the Baby Boilers,” Kramer said. “I think we use that like motivation … that we still have something to prove. We’re still not getting any credit for the stuff we’ve accomplished. That’s fine. We just have to keep doing the things we’re doing.”

Freshman guard E’Twaun Moore said this young team had no choice but to play with poise.

“We knew we had to mature early,” Moore said. “We’re a young team, and we all know we’re going to play a lot of minutes.”

Painter never questioned this group’s poise.

“They do not get rattled,” Painter said. “At times, they are not excited after big wins. They’re excited tonight.

“We have unselfish guys who are not real difficult to coach. Sometimes, you can have good players, but they are hard to coach. These guys aren’t hard to coach. It makes it pretty easy for our staff.”

Off and running

Purdue sank eight of its first 12 shots, racing out to a 25-12 lead.

“The start was very important because we knew we had to come out with a lot of intensity,” Moore said. “We had beaten them at our place, so we knew they would be ready to go.”

Grant said the start instilled confidence.

“It makes it more comfortable and easier,” Grant said. “(Calasan) got on a roll and hit those big shots. That got us going.”

Kramer credited Nemanja Calasan’s eight-point burst to start the game with paving the way.

“We kept on going,” Kramer said. “E’Twaun hit some big shots, and Rob (Hummel) played a great game.”

Chasing goals

Painter said he wasn’t bothered to read preseason predictions that had Purdue eighth or ninth in the Big Ten. At 10-1, Purdue is alone at the top of the Big Ten standings.

“When they pick you eighth or ninth in the league, it’s tough to publicly talk about winning the championship,” Painter said. “When your better players are guys that haven’t played yet, it’s hard to gauge how they are going to play when the popcorn is turning.

“I think we learned from our early losses. I learned from my mistakes, also.”

Ohio State officials called for “white out” conditions for Sunday’s game against Indiana, asking fans to wear white.

Indiana countered with D.J. White.

The IU senior forward had a double-double in the first half and finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds as No. 14 Indiana posted its second Big Ten road victory in four days, beating Ohio State 59-53 before a sellout crowd of 19,049 at Value City Arena.

White’s 15th double-double in 23 games included 10-of-15 shooting, six offensive rebounds, two blocks and a steal. He played the entire game.

“I was just playing hard,” White said. “From watching film, I knew we’d have a chance to get offensive rebounds. So that’s what I did when the ball went up. I went for the offensive rebounds.”

Eric Gordon scored 15 points. Jordan Crawford had a solid game with eight points, six rebounds and a career-high seven assists.

The Big Ten standings today have a decidedly Indiana flavor. Purdue leads with a 10-1 conference record, while Indiana is one-half game back at 9-1. The teams meet once in league play, Feb. 19 at Bloomington’s Assembly Hall.

The victory improved IU’s road record to 6-1, including 5-1 in conference play. It marks the first time Indiana (20-3 overall) has won at least five conference road games since the 1993 season, when the Hoosiers went 17-1 with an 8-1 road mark. Interestingly, the only road loss that season was at Ohio State.

Entering the game, Ohio State (16-8, 8-4) was 12-1 at home this season and 5-0 in Big Ten play. The loss ended the Buckeyes’ streak of 19 consecutive Big Ten home victories.

The Buckeyes led briefly early, but Indiana had control throughout. With 5:45 to play, Ohio State’s David Lighty made a free throw to cut the lead to 46-43. On IU’s next possession, White’s three-point play of a dunk and free throw made it 49-43.

In the final 30 seconds, IU made all six of its free throws — four by Eric Gordon and two by Jordan Crawford. Indiana only attempted seven free throws in the game but made them all.

For the first time this season, IU coach Kelvin Sampson employed a 2-3 zone the entire game. It was effective in the first half, but even after the Buckeyes cut into the lead in the second half, Sampson stuck with it. Ohio State shot 39.6 percent from the field and 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from 3-point range, missing its last seven over the final eight minutes.

“I think Ohio State does the best job in our league of spacing the floor,” said Sampson, who recorded the 11th consecutive 20-win season of his coaching career. “They’re just so good off of those ball screens and they can really hurt you. And that’s hard to guard.

“We just felt like we had a better chance of guarding those shooters in a zone than we did in a man.”

Kosta Koufos led Ohio State with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Jamar Butler, the Big Ten’s fifth leading scorer with a 14.8 average, was held to four points on 2-of-8 shooting.