Purdue Sneaks By In 1st Round

Jaraan Cornell rediscovered his outside touch just in time for Purdue.

Cornell broke out of a season-long slump by hitting three 3-pointers in the final nine minutes Thursday to lead Purdue into the second round of the NCAA tournament for the seventh straight year with a 62-61 victory over Dayton in the West Regional.

"With about eight minutes left I asked Jaraan, 'Could you please make a shot tonight,"' Purdue coach Gene Keady said. "He laughed and maybe he was able to relax a little after that."

Cornell didn't just hit one. He hit three to help the sixth-seeded Boilermakers (22-9) advance to play third-seeded Oklahoma. The Sooners beat Winthrop 74-50 in the first game of the day.

"There was no way I was going out to Dayton," Cornell said.

Brian Cardinal, who lead all scorers with 18 points, gave Purdue a 61-58 lead with 1:20 remaining with another 3-pointer.

Dayton drew within one on Yuanta Holland's easy basket underneath and had two chances to win after Greg McQuay hit one of two free throws.

Brooks Hall missed a shot in the lane, got his own rebound and was fouled for the Flyers. Hall made thfirst free throw but missed the second with 6.7 seconds left.

"I realized with about 12 minutes to go in the second half it was going to be close to the wire," Hall said. "I knew a couple of plays down the stretch would decide the game."

Cardinal was fouled in the scramble for the rebound with four seconds left but missed the front end of the 1-and-1.

"We wanted to get the ball to David," Dayton coach Oliver Purnell said. "I think he could have taken one or two more dribbles. We got the ball where we wanted. We just didn't get a good look."

Cornell finished with 13 points and Carson Cunningham added 10 for the Boilermakers, who had lost their last two games.

Long-range shooting, which had haunted Purdue recently, was the key to the win, as the Boilermakers hit 10 of 23 from 3-point range and held Dayton to 2-of-17 shooting.

"We knew coming in they were a great 3-point shooting team," Cardinal said. "We held their key 3-point shooters to a minimum. We didn't execute very well on offense but our defense was so good we were able to stay in the game."

Cornell and Cunningham, Purdue's starting backcourt, were a combined 1-for-12 in the Big Ten tournament last week when Purdue was knocked out in the first round by Wisconsin.

Cunningham hit three 3-pointers in the first half to help the Boilermakers get started and Cornell finished the Flyers off.

Cornell was in a 4-for-25 slump from the field including 1-of-11 on 3-pointers before hitting a 3 with 8:46 to play to give Purdue a 49-43 lead.

"That first one broke the ice," Cornell said. "I was sick of missing. Maybe I should have said that to myself about 10 games ago."

On the next possession, Cornell drove to the basket, drew a foul and hit both free throws. He then hit a 3 in transition from the left win to put Purdue up seven.

Tony Stanley then awoke from his slumber for Dayton. After missing his first eight 3-pointers of the game, Stanley hit one from the wing and then added a jumper in the lane as Dayton took the lead with its 9-0 run.

Stanley and Mark Ashman each had 16 points for the Flyers. Holland added 14.

Dayton struggled offensvely most of the first half, missing all eight 3-point attempts and having a point taken off the scoreboard at one point.

Stanley hit a long jumper on a fast break with 7:25 left that was originally scored a 3-pointer. More than four minutes later, the referees conferred with the official scorer and ruled it a 2-pointer.

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