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Johnson, Purdue dump Penn State, end losing streak

Feb 12, 2009 - 6:16 AM WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (Ticker) -- With Robbie Hummel still aching, Purdue had its recent pain eased by one of its smallest players.

JaJuan Johnson had 14 points and 13 rebounds as No. 23 Purdue ended a two-game losing streak with a 61-47 victory over Penn State on Wednesday.

Nemanja Calasan scored 12 points and E'Twaun Moore added 10 for the Boilermakers (18-6, 7-4 Big Ten), who overcame the continued absence of top all-around player Hummel, who missed his third game in the last four due to a stress fracture in his back.

Purdue held a two-point lead at the half but pulled away from Penn State thereafter thanks in part to the unlikely contributions of reserve guard Bobby Riddell.

The 5-9 senior walk-on scored 10 of his career-high 13 points in the second half, hitting two of his three 3-pointers. Riddell entered the game with just 34 points in his previous 15 games this season.

"I'm always ready whenever my name's called," said Riddell, whose previous high was nine points this season against Valparaiso. "(Coach Matt Painter) was comfortable with me guarding some of their quicker guards."

Riddell made his presence felt as play resumed after intermission, connecting from the arc to give the Boilermakers a 35-28 lead with 17:19 remaining.

Overall, Riddell hit two 3-pointers and scored eight points during a 16-0 run that turned a two-point lead for Purdue into a 46-28 cushion with 12:49 remaining.

Besides his surprising scoring, Riddell also handed out four assists, grabbed two rebounds, blocked a shot and collected a steal in 24 minutes. He also drew a charge on Jamelle Cornley during his team's decisive run.

Clearly impressed by Riddell's effort, Painter compared his contributions to what Purdue normally gets from Hummel.

"We have very good individual players," Painter said. "Rob does something for our team offensively and defensively that balances our team.

"They're different positions, but tonight Bobby Riddell gave us some of that."

Overall, the Boilermakers shot 13-of-26 in the second half as they won for the fourth straight time at home.

Cornley had 16 points for the Nittany Lions (17-8, 6-6), who lost their third straight.

Andrew Jones added six points and nine rebounds for Penn State, which shot 37 percent (18-of-49).

The Big Ten leader in scoring at 17.4 points coming in, Talor Battle was held scoreless as the Nittany Lions failed to reach 50 points for the second straight game.

The 5-11 sophomore went 0-of-7 from the field and 0-of-4 on 3-pointers as he struggled dealing with the defense of Purdue freshman Lewis Jackson.

"I just noticed most teams don't get into him, because he's fast and he's shifty with the ball," said Jackson, who had four points and five assists. "I'm just fast enough that I can stay with him and I tried to move my feet. I had a little bit of upper-body strength on him and I used that to my advantage. I just had to play hard defense."

"He didn't give him any room," Painter said of Jackson's effort. "He didn't give him space to play."