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Grant, Purdue make quick work of Loyola of Chicago

Nov 19, 2008 - 5:47 AM WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (Ticker) -- Thanks in part to Keaton Grant, Purdue did not need long to punch its ticket to New York City.

Grant scored eight of his 11 points in the first half as No. 10 Purdue had no trouble posting a 78-46 victory over Loyola of Chicago in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Tuesday.

E'Twaun Moore scored 14 points and Robbie Hummel added 13 as Boilermakers (3-0) secured a spot in the semifinal round at Madison Square Garden on November 26. They will face Boston College, an 82-70 winner over St. John's.

The Ramblers took a 4-2 lead less than two minutes in before the Boilermakers took over, pulling ahead 30-9 with 4:20 left before halftime on the strength of a 28-5 run.

"There are a lot of circumstances you have to consider," Purdue coach Matt Painter told the Chicago Tribune about the lopsided game. "It's a home game for us and they had to turn around after playing a great second half in the late game last night."

Grant connected on back-to-back 3-pointers during the burst, and finished 3-of-5 from the arc. The junior guard also handed out five assists and grabbed five rebounds.

Moore went 7-of-13 from the field and Hummel made two 3-pointers as the two sophomores combined to score double digits in the same game for the 14th time. Purdue has a record of 11-3 in those contests.

Marcus Green added six of his 12 points in the opening half and tied a career-high with 10 rebounds for Purdue, which won a tight battle on the boards, 41-38.

While they had some issues rebounding, the Boilermakers were fine on the defensive end, holding the Ramblers to 30 percent from the field (17-of-57) and forcing 22 turnovers.

Moore and Chris Kramer had three steals each for Purdue, which finished with 11 along with eight blocks.

Loyola (1-2) missed 17 of its first 19 shots en route to falling behind 40-14 at the break.

"Our guys played with will but you have to play with will and skill," Loyola coach Jim Whitesell told the Tribune. "We couldn't get going offensively. They play excellent defense. They force you out of what you want to do."

Nemanja Calasan added 11 points and six rebounds for the Boilermakers.

The Ramblers were coming off a 74-53 victory over Georgia in their opening round of this tournament on Monday.

Justin Cerasoli scored 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting for Loyola. No other player had more than six.

Purdue did an outstanding job harassing Loyola leading scorer J.R. Blount, who was held to just three points while missing all six of his shots. The senior guard entered with an average of 29.0 points over the first two games.

"They have very good guard play," Painter told the paper. "We wanted to keep the ball out of their hands as much as possible, keep somebody fresh on them and have them shoot over guys. Cerasoli got 14 points but he took 14 shots and he turned it over seven times."