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Purdue downs Gophers in Top-20 showdown

Jan 30, 2011 - 1:39 AM West Lafayette, IN (Sports Network) - JaJuan Johnson scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds to push 12th-ranked Purdue past No. 16 Minnesota, 73-61, at Mackey Arena.

Ryne Smith came off the bench to supply all 15 of his points in the second half while Lewis Jackson contributed 13 points, five boards and five assists for the Boilermakers (18-4, 7-2 Big Ten), who bounced back from a 23-point loss at Ohio State on Tuesday.

The Boilermakers won their 13th straight home game overall and their fifth in a row as the host over Minnesota by winning the battle on the boards, 37-32.

"I think Minnesota is one of the best, if not the best rebounding team, in our conference," Purdue head coach Matt Painter said. "We've been able to outrebound them in both games and that was the key stat in today's game."

Trevor Mbakwe scored 17 points and hauled in 12 rebounds while Blake Hoffarber chipped in with 14 points for the Golden Gophers (16-5, 5-4), who had won four in a row and five out of their last six coming in.

"We have to go back and make sure we do the things we have to do to get the guys ready to play," Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith said. "It's only one game. We have to come back to this state next week and play Indiana, so we don't have a lot of time to dwell on this one."

Leading 37-31, Purdue scored 11 of the next 14 points to stretch the margin to 14 with 13 1/2 minutes to play. Johnson hit four foul shots and a jumper during the run.

Minnesota never got closer than nine the rest of the way in falling to 2-4 on the road.

Johnson scored the last four points of the half to give Purdue a 29-26 edge at the break. The two teams were not separated by more than five points during the first 20 minutes.

Game Notes

Johnson went 8-for-13 from the floor and 8-of-9 at the line...He moved past Glenn Robinson into 10th place on Purdue's all-time list with 615 field goals. Johnson also moved past Cuonzo Martin into 12th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,677 points...He has scored in double figures in 31 straight games and scored 20 or more in six straight...E'Twaun Moore added nine points and seven boards in the win...Mbakwe connected on 8-of-14 shots...Minnesota made 3-of-9 from beyond the arc in comparison to Purdue's 10-of-23...The Gophers had won the first meeting in the season series, 70-67, on January 13.