No. 8 Purdue 72, Indiana 61
By Zach Langdon
The Boiling Point: Purdue beat Indiana for the fifth time in a row, the longest streak in 40 years over its in-state rival.
THE STORY: Despite JaJuan Johnson battling foul trouble for the first time this season and horrible free throw shooting from everyone but JJ, Purdue went into Assembly Hall and came out the winner in what many thought could be a trap game. The Boilers have now won five straight this season, as well as five in a row over Indiana.
TURNING POINT: Well, technically JaJuan Johnson’s turnaround jumper to score the first points of the game, since Indiana never led. That’s no fun though, so instead I’ll say Johnson’s dunk off a LewJack pass with 8:27 left in the game. The shot put Purdue up by five, a lead they would never give up. It also came not long after LewJack wouldn’t give the ball to Doc Rivers’ kid on a jump ball, the only point of hostility in the game.
GAME BALL: Indiana’s creative student section. “Banner Up”? That’s pure gold… but seriously, I’ll give out two game balls today. The first half game ball goes to Terone Johnson, who went 3-3 from long range to help Purdue go into the break with a lead. The other ball goes to DJ Byrd, who had 11 points and 9 rebounds while playing CENTER most of the time in a Big Ten game. Just to recap, he’s 6-foot-5. Props to JJ and E’Twaun for their 20/9 and 17/6/5 games, respectively.
SPORTSCENTER MOMENT: Gotta be LewJack’s previously mentioned pass to JaJuan that led to a dunk and gave Purdue all the momentum in the game.
WHAT IT MEANS: Purdue didn’t let up after its biggest week of the season, where it recorded two wins over top 10 teams, despite facing off against the Big Ten’s bottom-dweller. More importantly, the Boilers went on the road and won a Big Ten game. Purdue can’t slip up if it wants any chance at catching Ohio State and winning a Big Ten title, and even then it needs some help.
GETTING CRITICAL: Purdue shot just 14-24 from the foul line, including JaJuan Johnson’s 6-6. Take him out, and they were 8-18. Against a better team, that’ll bite you in the butt. The Boilers have to shake that off before heading to Michigan State this weekend.
ODDS AND EDDS: Did anybody else notice those IU guys try to mug E’Twaun when he shot a 3 in the corner during the second half? Dudes like jumped out and tried to scare him or something. That’s not right. Derek Elston’s facial hair is scary enough, ‘Twaun doesn’t need 40-year-old frat guys jumping out at him too… Gus Johnson wasn’t entertaining tonight… Does Lewis Jackson’s leadership make anyone else worry a whole lot less about last night?… Kelsey Barlow played 15 minutes and had four fouls, ending his streak of solid play against Indiana. I’m guessing he got a great “don’t make me look bad” speech from Painter before the game. Maybe it messed him up?