Providence Upsets No. 8 Purdue

Jaraan Cornell missed a trio of three-pointers in the final seconds that would have tied it and Erron Maxey's breakaway dunk with four seconds left sealed Providence's 87-82 upset of eighth-ranked Purdue.

Greg McQuay's layup with 1:02 remaining pulled Purdue (12-2) within 83-82, but McQuay gave the bucket right back when he was called for goaltending on Kendrick Moore's layup.

Purdue quickly moved down the floor and Cornell threw up an air ball from the right wing that was knocked out of bounds by Providence. Cornell tried again moments later from the top of the key and was short, but Brian Cardinal grabbed the rebound and called timeout for the Boilermakers.

Purdue again got the ball to Cornell at the top of the key, but his shot over Maxey hit the front of the rim. Corey Wright grabbed the ball and found Maxey down the floor for a wide-open dunk to punctuate the Friars' victory.

"The

Jamel Thomas had 22 points for Providence. (AP)

Jamel Thomas scored 22 points and Maxey added 15 for Providence, which recorded its biggest victory under first-year coach Tim Welsh. The Friars, who are 0-2 in Big East Conference play, also knocked off then-No. 25 Rhode Island on Nov. 14.

The win, following 16 days off for Providence, snapped a two-game losing streak and improved the Frias to 7-4.

"Providence might have been a little bit hungrier than us," Keady said. "If we had a 16-day layoff, we might have been biting nails."

Welsh said beating a top-10 program showed him he's got the makings for "a very good team."

"If we have high energy on defense, we're going to play well," Welsh said. "Today, we played with feistiness, and we played with heart, and we played a complete basketball game."

McQuay scored 23 points for the Boilermakers, who saw their eight-game winning streak ended. It was Purdue's first setback since falling to North Carolina in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT on November 25th.

Cornell, the Boilermakers' leading scorer at 14.3 points per game, struggled throughout. He did not make his first basket until 10 minutes were left and finished with eight points on 3-of-12 from the field, including 0-of-6 on three-pointers.

Thomas' follow with a little more than seven minutes left gave Providence a 78-70 lead before Purdue fought back with a 6-0 run as Cardinal hit a bank shot, Cornell converted a layup and Mike Robinson hit two from the foul line.

Wright drilled a three-pointer as the shot clock was winding down on the next possession to give Providence an 81-76 advantage, but Purdue answered with Cameron Stephen's layup and Alan Eldrige's short jumper.

A layup by Thomas gave the Friars an 83-80 lead heading into the final moments.

Purdue victimized itself with 27 turnovers. The Boilermakers shot 57 percent (32-of-56) from the floor compared to Providence's 45 percent (33-of-74) and behind Robinson's 17 points and 10 rebounds built a 43-25 advantage on the boards.

Moore had 14 points and Wright had three of the Friars' 13 steals.

"There was no way I was going to let Purdue play a half-court game because they're just too physical and too experienced," said Welsh. "So we tried to get them to play our style, and we were successful."

Eldrige added 12 points for the Boilermakers, who begin the Big Ten Conference season Saturday against Minnesota.

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