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Hummel, Purdue cruise past Eastern Michigan

Nov 18, 2008 - 6:02 AM WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (Ticker) -- It took awhile, but once Purdue got on the scoreboard it took off.

Robbie Hummel scored 18 points and E'Twaun Moore added 17 as 10th-ranked Purdue posted an 87-58 victory over Eastern Michigan in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Monday.

The preseason pick for the Big Ten Player of the Year, Hummel had a slow start before coming on in the second half, finishing 6-of-9 from the field with three 3-pointers.

With Hummel not finding his game early, the Boilermakers (2-0) missed their first five shots from the field. That allowed the Eagles to take an 8-0 lead less than 2 1/2 minutes into the contest.

That deficit did not last long, as Purdue came back with a 16-2 run over the six minutes. Reserve Marcus Green scored all six of his points during the burst.

"I thought they made a couple good plays and we had some breakdowns," Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said of the early deficit. "I thought we had good looks, our shots just didn't fall. There was no sense to really get too excited about it."

Despite the offensive struggles, Purdue turned to the defensive end to take control, forcing six turnovers on its run. Overall, Eastern Michigan had 22 miscues.

"When we got that energy going; we got those turnovers, it gets us going and gets the crowd into it." Painter said. "That was very important to us."

The Boilermakers extended their lead to 26-14 with 6:17 left on the strength of a 10-0 run. Chris Kramer had a three-point play and a 3-pointer to bookend the spurt.

Leading 42-22 at the half, Purdue saw its top player start to put things together on a 16-3 run in the opening minutes after intermission, as Hummel both started and ended the run with a basket from the arc.

"The first half we knew we came out a little sluggish," said Moore, who finished 5-of-11 from the field with five rebounds. "So in the second half we wanted to come out and jump on them right away. The first five minutes of the second half are the most important minutes of the game."

Kramer scored nine of his 10 points in the first half for the Boilermakers, who next will face Loyola of Chicago in the second round Tuesday. Loyola posted a 74-53 victory over Georgia.

Sophomore JaJuan Johnson had 11 points for Purdue, scoring in double figures in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

Justin Dobbins scored 16 points and Brandon Bowdry added 15 for Eastern Michigan (1-1), which went 3-of-15 from long range.