Boilermakers defeat Bucks for Big Ten title
3/16/2009INDIANAPOLIS - Purdue finally lived up to its billing.
The Boilermakers, the preseason favorites in the Big Ten, fell to a No. 3 seed in the conference tournament by losing three of their final four regular season games. They found their groove at Conseco Fieldhouse.
E'Twaun Moore scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, and No. 24 Purdue rallied to beat Ohio State 65-61 Sunday for its first Big Ten tournament title.
Moore made 4 of 8 3-pointers in the second half.
"My teammates did a good job of distributing and finding the openings," he said. "I just got a few open looks. Once I got the first one [3-pointer], that gave me a little confidence."
JaJuan Johnson scored 16 points and Robbie Hummel added nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Boilermakers (24-9).
Hummel was named the tournament's most outstanding player.
The Buckeyes were happy with their Big Ten tournament performance overall.
"This tournament this weekend gave us a lot of confidence," said Ohio State's Evan Turner, who led his team with 22 points and 10 rebounds in the championship game. "Three great teams we played against. Nobody expected us to go this far in the tournament."
Jon Diebler and William Buford each added 15 points for the Buckeyes (22-10), who were was chasing their second title in three years.
The loss snapped the Buckeyes' four-game winning streak.