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Johnson, Purdue crush IPFW

Dec 22, 2010 - 3:52 AM West Lafayette, IN (Sports Network) - JaJuan Johnson led all scorers with 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, as 14th-ranked Purdue earned an easy 77-52 win over IUPU-Fort Wayne at Mackey Arena.

D.J. Byrd netted 15 points, while E'Twaun Moore added 11 points, six assists and five boards for Purdue (11-1), which has won six straight since dropping a 65-54 decision against Richmond on November 27.

"We had a couple of stretches that were tough and it really comes down to us and not really the opponent," Purdue head coach Matt Painter said. "We took hurried shots, we were casual with the basketball and if we keep the game simple, we're pretty efficient and pretty productive on the offensive end."

Oleg Kovalov scored a team-high 12 points for IUPU-Fort Wayne (7-4), which has dropped two straight after winning the previous six contests. Ben Botts and Zach Plackemeier both posted 10 points in defeat. Plackemeier also chipped in seven assists.

IPFW held a 9-6 advantage in the first five minutes of the contest before Terone Johnson hit a three-pointer to start Purdue on a 14-2 run. JaJuan Johnson followed the three with a layup and dunk, then finished off the surge with a jumper, giving the Boilermakers a 20-11 lead with 8:06 left in the opening half.

It was a 25-22 game in favor of the hosts with 4:20 remaining, but Purdue scored the final six points to take a 31-22 advantage into the locker room.

The Boilermakers took all the suspense out of the contest by starting the second half with a 13-2 burst.

Trey McCorkle's jumper for IPFW opened the scoring before Moore answered with a three-point play to start a string of 13 unanswered by Purdue. After JaJuan Johnson finished off the run with a dunk, the hosts had a commanding 44-24 lead with 16:01 remaining.

IPFW never threatened the outcome in the remaining time on the clock as Purdue maintained a comfortable double-digit lead throughout.

Game Notes

Purdue, which improved to 4-0 all-time against IPFW, shot 53.4 percent from the field and made 10 three-pointers...IPFW made 34.6 percent of its shots and 9-of-24 from beyond the arc.