E'Twaun Moore posted a game-high 25 points as he led No. 14 Purdue to a 14-point victory against Indiana, the Boilermakers' biggest rival, which fell under .500 for the first time this season.
Purdue finally beat
E'Twaun Moore scored 25 points and JaJuan Johnson added 15 on his birthday to help the 14th-ranked Boilermakers pull away from
The celebration doesn't get any better than this for the two seniors, who have helped spark a resurgence in Boilermakers basketball. They have won 100 games in their careers and it came with a fourth consecutive against their most bitter rival. It's the first time since 1996-97 that Purdue (19-5, 8-3 Big Ten) has taken four consecutive from the Hoosiers.
Still, it didn't go the way most people expected.
Conventional wisdom suggested Johnson would exploit
Instead, it was Moore doing the big damage, hitting three 3-pointers. He finished 7 of 15 from the field, had eight rebounds and fueled most of Purdue's big runs.
But the Hoosiers had plenty of chances.
They used a 6-0 run late in the first half to close to 25-24, then watched Purdue score the final six points of the half to take a 31-24 lead.
Purdue extended the lead to 52-41 with 8:04 to play, but
The Boilermakers finally closed it out by making nine of 10 free throws in the final 2:09.
Lewis Jackson had 13 points for the Boilermakers.
Verdell Jones had 10 points for