At the end of January, Purdue had road trips to both Ohio State and Wisconsin in the span of a week.
The Boilermakers lost both.
On Wednesday night, they got their first measure of revenge, as Wisconsin couldn't overcome a 13 point second half deficit, losing 70-62.
JaJuan Johnson had 20 points, 10 boards, and four blocks and E'Twaun Moore added 19 points for Purdue, but the star tonight may have been point guard Lewis Jackson. Jackson had one point and three turnovers in Purdue's loss earlier this season. Tonight, he finished with 18 points, five assists, four rebounds, and didn't commit a turnover in 31 minutes.
Purdue, it should be noted, committed just five turnovers as a team.
Jackson may have been the star, but Moore was the hero. Wisconsin had cut a 13 point lead to 58-56 with just 3:55 left on the clock. But Moore ended the rally, hitting a floater and then a three pointer that pushed the lead back to seven points with just over two minutes left in the game.
Also impressive was Purdue's defense. Wisconsin came into this game as the most efficient offense team in the country, and Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer played like it. The two Wisconsin stars combined for 38 points on 16-27 shooting to go with nine boards, five assists, and just three turnovers. The rest of the team, however, got shut down by the Boilers. They were 8-32 from the floor, 2-14 from three, and managed just 24 points.
With this win, Purdue moves into sole possession of second place in the Big Ten.
But they are still sitting two games behind Ohio State, setting up an enormous game on Saturday.
The Buckeyes will head to West Lafayette with a chance to all but end the Big Ten race. A win would put Ohio State up three games with four remaining. That deficit isn't getting made up.
But a win by Purdue could set up an interesting situation.
Ohio State gets Illinois and Indiana at home and has to travel to Penn State before ending the season with Wisconsin.
Wouldn't be ironic if Wisconsin beat Ohio State to earn Purdue a share of the Big Ten title?
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Purdue takes over second place in the Big Ten by beating Wisconsin |
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