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Moore, Purdue eke out ugly win over Iowa

Feb 15, 2009 - 12:43 AM IOWA CITY, Iowa (Ticker) -- E'Twaun Moore scored 16 points and added 11 rebounds as No. 23 Purdue snapped a two-game road losing streak with a 49-45 victory over Iowa on Saturday.

Both teams struggled throughout, combining to shoot 5-of-35 from 3-point range and totaling just 45 points in the first half.

The second half wasn't much better. It was close though, as neither team led by more than three points for the better part of the second session. In the end, the Boilermakers made just enough shots and got stops when they needed them.

Purdue held Iowa to just one field goal in the final 4:38.

"I think that in a grind-it-out possession type game you have to get stops," Purdue coach Matt Painter said.

"We were able to get a lot of stops late in the game and that's very important to our team, being able to come in here in win a very close game on the road," he said. "We were very fortunate to make a couple of good plays down the stretch and make our free throws."

JaJuan Johnson scored 13 points for the Boilermakers (19-6, 8-4 Big Ten), who took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Keaton Grant with 5:13 remaining.

Grant's shot from the top of the key snapped a 41-41 deadlock and came during a game-clinching 10-4 run.

Iowa pulled to within one on a layup by Aaron Fuller with 4:35 left, but Johnson answered with a jumper to make it 46-43 with 1:29 to play.

Jake Kelly had 19 points and five assists for Iowa (13-13, 3-10), which has lost six of its last seven contests. Kelly's layup with eight seconds left cut the lead to 47-45. But Moore sealed the game with a pair of free throws with 3.1 seconds left.

Moore and Johnson were the only Boilermakers in double figures. Purdue shot 46 percent (20-of-43) from the floor, while the Hawkeyes shot 36 percent (17-of-47).

It may not have been aesthetically pleasing to all, but Iowa coach Todd Lickliter appreciated the defensive efforts of both teams.

"I saw two teams today that defended as well as anyone in the country I thought," he said.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I thought it was beautiful to watch our guys cover sets, cover people, rotate and do the things that they needed to do to cause the other team to miss. I wish we could have found a way to generate some offense in those last few possessions, but my hat goes off to Purdue."

Iowa hung around despite not having the services of point guard Jeff Peterson, who has a strained hamstring.

"Of all the teams to have to sub in a new point guard, Purdue may be the most demanding to do that against," Lickliter said. "I have to give Jake Kelly and Jermain Davis a lot of credit. They played very well and that wasn't an easy task to ask of them."