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Penn St.-Purdue Preview

Jan 30, 2010 - 6:37 PM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Penn State (8-12) at Purdue (17-3), 3:00 p.m. EDT

Purdue has pulled itself out of a stunning three-game slide with three straight wins, the latest of which required a last-second defensive stand.

It seems unlikely to need a late stop to extend its streak to four.

The 10th-ranked Boilermakers try to keep rolling Sunday afternoon when they welcome in Penn State, which is looking to avoid falling to 0-9 in the Big Ten.

Purdue (17-3, 5-3) looked like a Final Four contender in winning 14 straight to open the season, but shot 41.4 percent and was badly outrebounded in losing three straight games Jan. 9-16.

The Boilermakers have corrected both of those problems in reeling off three consecutive wins. Purdue has shot 49.0 percent in its past three victories, and after getting edged on the boards by an average of 11.3 per game during its skid, has outrebounded its last three opponents by 5.3 per contest.

It edged No. 16 Wisconsin 37-25 on the glass Thursday in West Lafayette, with the last one securing a solid victory. After E'Twaun Moore's basket gave the Boilermakers a one-point lead with 25.2 seconds left - the last of his 20 points - JaJuan Johnson rebounded Trevon Hughes' miss in the closing seconds to seal a 60-57 win.

"We had to steal possessions and the only way we could do that was rebounding," said forward Robbie Hummel, who had a season-high 13 boards. "It probably won the game for us."

Hummel (15.9 points per game), Moore (17.6) and Johnson (14.2) combine to score 63 percent of the team's points, but Purdue has been better off when Hummel has taken a back seat lately. Hummel averaged 22.7 points in the three losses, but has scored just 12.0 per game during the winning streak while Moore and Johnson have averaged 38.0 points.

Despite having one of the nation's top-scoring trios, coach Matt Painter prefers to see his team win with defense - which it's done in holding its past two opponents under 60 points.

"We really try to emphasize with our guys, even though E'Twaun Moore made a huge basket down the stretch, more times than not you're getting a defensive stop to win a game than you are scoring a basket," Painter said.

Rebounding may be the only edge Penn State (8-12, 0-8) has over the Boilermakers. The Nittany Lions' 5.0 per game rebound differential is second in the Big Ten, while Purdue averages one more board than its opponents.

Those rebounds haven't led to many points. Penn State is 10th in the conference in scoring at 66.3 points per game despite the presence of the Big Ten's top scorer, Talor Battle (19.1 ppg).

Battle had 20 Wednesday against Illinois, but his teammates made 38.0 percent of their shots as the Nittany Lions lost 77-67 and fell to 0-8 in the Big Ten for the first time since opening 0-10 in 2002-03.

"We're the ones that got ourselves into this and we're the ones that have to pull ourselves out of it," coach Ed DeChellis said of Penn State's losing streak. "It's not just going to go away."

The Nittany Lions have lost six of seven to Purdue, and Battle would prefer to forget his last trip to West Lafayette. He missed all seven shots and went scoreless Feb. 11 in a 61-47 loss.

Johnson led the Boilermakers with 14 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.