Iowa stays hot, takes out Purdue

Jarrod Uthoff scored 25 points, Peter Jok had 11 points and nine rebounds and Iowa erased a 17-point halftime deficit in a 70-63 upset of No. 14 Purdue on Saturday night in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Hawkeyes (11-3, 2-0 Big Ten) have won four straight and eight of nine, including two upsets of top-15 teams this week. They beat No. 1 Michigan State on Tuesday.

Kendall Stephens led Purdue (13-2, 1-1) with 12 points. The Boilermakers had won 15 in a row at home.

Purdue completely dominated the first half, using seven 3-pointers to build a 37-20 lead. But the Boilermakers collapsed in the second half.

Iowa’s 13-0 spurt finally gave it the lead at 48-46 with 7:30 to go.

After Purdue tied it for the final time at 48, Iowa scored five straight and sealed the win at the freethrow line.

What changed? Iowa’s defense.

The Hawkeyes dared Purdue to beat them from outside in the first half, and the Boilermakers made 7 of 14 3-pointers.

But when coach Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey started using half-court traps, Purdue got out of sync. The shooters went cold, the turnovers piled up and the Hawkeyes warmed up on offense after being a dismal 7 of 30 from the field in the first half.

Showdown set up: No. 2 Kansas routed No. 23 Baylor 102-74, and No. 3 Oklahoma rallied to beat No. 11 Iowa State 87-83 on Saturday, setting up a showdown between the Jayhawks and the unbeaten Sooners on Monday night in Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas’ lone loss was Nov. 17 in triple overtime against Michigan State in Chicago.

With the Spartans’ loss to Iowa on Tuesday, it’s likely Kansas (12-1) will be ranked No. 1 and Oklahoma (12-0) will be No. 2.

Valentine eyes return:

Michigan State G Denzel Valentine said he expects to return from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee when the Spartans face Penn State on Jan. 10. Valentine underwent the procedure Dec. 21 and has missed three games.

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