March 13, 1998

CHICAGO (AP) - Mike Robinson scored 19 points and Purdue raced to an 18-0 lead in the first 4 1/2 minutes Friday night to rout Delaware 95-56 in one of the most lopsided games ever in the NCAA tournament's Midwest Regional.

Second-seeded Purdue (27-7), in its sixth straight NCAA tournament appearance, will face St. John's or Detroit in Sunday's second round.

Brian Cardinal added 16 and Brad Miller 15 for Purdue, which led 53-17 at the half and by as many as 53 points late in the game.

Delaware (20-10) goaltended Miller's first shot attempt in the opening seconds and nothing went right for the jittery Blue Hens from there. Mike Pegues led Delaware with 17 points.

Delaware, in its first tournament appearance in five years and third ever, shot just 7-of-33 (21 percent) in the first half and had 14 turnovers.

The Blue Hens, whose tallest starter was 6-6, had trouble handling the 6-foot-11 Miller on the inside and the Boilermakers' stable of shooters from the perimeter as Purdue hit 60 percent of its shots in the first half.

The most lopsided game in the 43 years of Midwest Regional play came in 1993 when Indiana beat Wright State by 43. Cincinnati defeated DePaul by 40 in 1960 and Louisville topped Kansas State by 40 in 1968.

Purdue was playing its fourth straight game at the United Center and fifth this season, including three games in last week's Big Ten tournament where it was beaten in last Sunday's finals by Michigan.

And the Boilermakers looked right at home from the outset.

Delaware didn't get a rebound until 14:47 remained in the first half and finally scored 25 seconds later when Tyrone Perry banked in a 3-pointer to make it 18-3. The Blue Hens also had five turnovers in the first four minutes.

Robinson's three-point play on an alley oop pass from Chad Austin and a hook shot by Gary McQuay capped the game-beginning spurt.

Leading 36-14, the Boilermakers went on a 15-1 run, featuring a forceful one-handed slam by Miller and three 3-pointers, including one by Jaraan Cornell, to make it 51-15. Cornell, the Boilermakers' best 3-point shooter, had missed the previous eight games with a sprained ankle.

Purdue finished 40-of-71 from the field for the game (56 percent) to just 24-of-65 (37 percent) for the Blue Hens. The Boilermakers scored 27 points off 20 Delaware turnovers.