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Johnson leads No. 19 Purdue over Indiana State

Dec 19, 2010 - 12:35 AM Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - JaJuan Johnson had a career-high 31 points as No. 19 Purdue pulled away late to defeat Indiana State, 65-52 at Conseco Fieldhouse in the Boilermaker BlockBuster.

Johnson was 10-of-19 from the field, made 11-of-12 free throws and also had three blocks for Boilermakers (10-1). E'Twaun Moore notched 16 points and five rebounds for the victors.

Purdue improved to 9-3 in the Indianapolis event, which hadn't taken place since December 18, 2004.

Dwayne Lathan recorded 15 points and grabbed nine boards for Indiana State (5-6), which had a two-game winning streak snapped. Carl Richard chipped in 11 points and six rebounds in the loss.

Lathan's jumper with 9:09 left cut the Boilermakers' lead to two, but Purdue made six straight free-throws.

After D.J. Byrd made a behind-the-back save to keep the ball from going out of bounds, he was rewarded with a wide open layup to give Purdue a 55-45 lead with 4:38 to play. Lewis Jackson added a free throw to complete the nine-point burst.

The Boilermakers made 6-of-8 free throws in the final 90 seconds to secure the win.

Purdue broke a tie just past the midway point of the first half on a Byrd three. The long ball sparked an eight-point spurt, capped by Ryne Smith's trey with 5 1/2 minutes left to play.

The Sycamores fought back, though, and Aaron Carter's four-point play with 94 seconds left gave Indiana State a 30-29 edge.

But Johnson followed with a jumper, and Byrd's 1-of-2 performance from the line gave the Boilermakers a 32-30 lead at the break.

Game Notes

Johnson had 25 of Purdue 32 first-half points...Purdue is 12-10 all-time at Conseco Fieldhouse, and 9-6 at the venue under head coach Matt Painter... Purdue has won 11 games in a row over in-state opponents...Carter had nine points in the loss...The Boilermakers shot 80 percent (24-of-30) from the free throw line...Purdue scored 16 points off 18 Indiana State turnovers, while ISU scored only two points off seven Purdue turnovers.