Purdue tops Indiana for 4th straight over rival

2/9/2011
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue finally beat Indiana with its tenacity Monday night.

E'Twaun Moore scored 25 points and JaJuan Johnson added 15 on his birthday to help the 14th-ranked Boilermakers pull away from Indiana for a 67-53 victory.

The celebration doesn't get any better than this for the two seniors, who have helped spark a resurgence in Boilermakers basketball. They have won 100 games in their careers and it came with a fourth straight over their most bitter rival. It's the first time since 1996-97 that Purdue (19-5, 8-3 Big Ten) has taken four straight from the Hoosiers.

Indiana, which played again without injured sophomore starters Maurice Creek and Christian Watford, hung around most of the game. Freshman Will Sheehey scored a season-high 14 points and Bloomington native Jordan Hulls finished with 13 to lead the Hoosiers (12-13, 3-9).

Still, it didn't go the way most people expected.

Conventional wisdom suggested Johnson would exploit Indiana in the paint.

Instead, it was Moore doing the big damage, hitting three 3-pointers.