JaJuan Johnson's Double-Double Leads No. 13 Purdue Past IPFW, 77-52

Tuesday, December 21

West Lafayette, Ind.

6:30 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

Purdue

Oleg Kovalov hit four 3-pointers vs. Purdue

JaJuan Johnson's Double-Double Leads No. 13 Purdue Past IPFW, 77-52

12/21/2010 9:57:17 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

West Lafayette, IN - No. 13 Purdue got 24 points and 13 rebounds from senior center JuJuan Johnson in topping visiting IPFW, 77-52 on Tuesday night at Mackey Arena.

It was the upset minded Mastodons that got out of the gate quickly in this one as senior guards Ben Botts and Zach Plackemeier staked IPFW to an early five-point lead, forcing a quick timeout by Purdue head coach Matt Painter.

Painter's message to his team was to get back in transition and begin feeding the ball to Johnson. The Boilermakers responded as Johnson put Purdue up by nine with his 10th point of the game at the 8:11 mark of the opening half.

IPFW head coach Dane Fife then inserted senior forward Oleg Kovalov into the lineup and the Ukrainian native began to fill it up from behind the arc. Kovalov hit triples on three consecutive trips down the floor to pull IPFW to within three at 25-22.

But Purdue scored the last six points of the half to take a 31-22 lead into the break.

In the second half, the Boilermakers came out on fire. Senior guard E'Twaun Moore, who was held to just two points in the first half, scored a couple of quick baskets. Johnson pounded down a pair of dunks and forward D.J. Byrd hit five 3-pointers in the second half to win going away.

Along with Johnson's 24, Purdue got 15 from Byrd and 11 from Moore in improving to 11-1.

Kovalov led IPFW with a career-high 12 points (all on 3-pointers). Plackemeier and Botts each finished with 10 points and junior forward Jason Smeathers added seven.

Purdue shot 53.4% from the floor and outrebounded the 'Dons, 34-27.

IPFW, who falls to 7-4 with the loss, shot 34.6% from the field.

The Mastodons will now take a few days off for the holidays and will return to action on December 28 at Oral Roberts.

~Dons~