Published November 20, 2014
JaJuan Johnson scored 25 of his career-high 31 points in the first half to help No. 19 Purdue beat Indiana State 65-52 on Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Johnson, a senior center, reached his career high with free throws with 39 seconds remaining. He was 10 of 19 from the field and made 11 of 12 free throws.
Purdue led 32-30 at halftime, then held Indiana State to 22 points and 32 percent shooting in the second half. E'Twaun Moore scored all of his 16 points in the second half for the Boilermakers (10-1).
Purdue won despite shooting 33 percent from the field. Though Johnson shot well, his teammates combined to make 9 of 38 field goals. The Boilermakers made up for it by outscoring Indiana State 24-7 from the free-throw line.
Dwayne Lathan had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Carl Richard added 11 points and six rebounds for the Sycamores (5-6).
Johnson scored nine points in just over 4 minutes at the start to give the Boilermakers a 9-6 lead, but Indiana State's Steve McWhorter made a 3-pointer to tie the score at 11.
Johnson scored Purdue's first 17 points. The first basket by a different Boilermaker came nearly 11 minutes into the game, when D.J. Byrd made a 3-pointer to give Purdue a 20-17 lead.
The Boilermakers held the Sycamores scoreless for nearly 6 minutes and extended their lead to 25-17, mostly with Johnson on the bench.
A 4-point play by Aaron Carter gave the Sycamores a 30-29 lead with 1:32 left in the first half, but Johnson came right back with a jumper to help Purdue regain the lead by halftime.
A windmill dunk by Lathan ignited the Indiana State crowd in the opening minutes of the second half, but a 3-pointer by Moore pushed Purdue's lead to 45-37 with 12 minutes to play.
Indiana State rallied, and a jumper by Lathan cut Purdue's lead to 47-45.
The Sycamores couldn't recover from their next scoring drought. Purdue held Indiana State scoreless for 5 minutes and used free throws during a 9-0 run to build a 56-45 lead.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/johnson-leads-no-19-purdue-past-indiana-state