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Moore leads Purdue past Indiana

Feb 22, 2009 - 12:05 AM WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (Ticker) -- E'Twaun Moore scored a career-high 26 points as No. 21 Purdue coasted to an 81-67 victory over Indiana on Saturday.

Coming off Tuesday's home win over fifth-ranked Michigan State, Purdue (21-6, 10-4 Big Ten) showed no sign of a letdown against the pitiful Hoosiers, scoring the game's first six points and never trailing.

Moore lit up the defenseless Hoosiers (6-20, 1-13), making five of his team's seven 3-pointers. The sophomore scored 18 points in the first half on 7-of-9 shooting as the Boilermakers built a 39-30 lead at the break.

"I just had a few opportunities," Moore said. "I just kept knocking down those shots."

Purdue coach Matt Painter thought Moore was due for a big game.

"I thought earlier in the year that it was a matter of time before he had a big time game," Painter said. "In the first-half he established himself with 3's."

Verdell Jones III scored 16 points to lead Indiana, which fell to 0-9 on the road.

Moore came out hot, making three shots from the arc in less than eight minutes as the Boilermakers raced to an early 16-8 lead. Moore made 10-of-15 shots overall.

While Moore was lighting things up from the outside, JaJuan Johnson was taking care of things on the interior. The improving 6-10 center collected 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.

The Boilermakers had their lead reduced below double figures early in the second half, then scored six straight points, capped by Bobby Riddell's 3-pointer for a 53-39 advantage with under 12 minutes left.

Purdue was able to maintain its lead by shooting an efficient 56 percent (28-of-50). The performance from the field overcame a woeful 18-of-33 effort at the free-throw line.

Tom Pritchard added 12 points for the Hoosiers, who shot 50 percent (29-of-58).

Indiana coach Tom Crean gave credit to the Boilermakers.

"They're good in all facets," Crean said. "They really are. There's people who are going to look at them in tournament and they're not going to say 'we can take them out in this because they don't have players who can do that.' (Painter) has done a great job at that."