Johnson leads No. 14 Purdue past IPFW

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – JaJuan Johnson had 24 points and 13 rebounds to help No. 14 Purdue beat Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne 77-52 on Tuesday night.

D.J. Byrd scored all 15 of his points in the second half, E'Twaun Moore had 11 points, six assists and five steals and Lewis Jackson had eight points and eight assists for the Boilermakers (11-1).

Purdue has won six straight and allowed just 51.8 points per game during the streak. The Boilermakers held the Mastodons to 35 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers.

Oleg Kovalov scored a career-high 12 points and made all four of his 3-point tries for IPFW, which had won six of its past seven games. Zach Plackemeier and Ben Botts both added 10 points for the Mastodons (7-4).

IPFW made 9 of 24 3-pointers, but just 9 of 28 shots inside the arc.

The Mastodons lost at Xavier in overtime by six at Cincinnati in November.

IPFW ran out to a 7-2 lead, but Purdue responded with a 9-2 run to take an 11-9 lead before IPFW called a timeout. The Boilermakers continued the run, scoring another nine straight to take a 20-11 lead before the Mastodons rallied.

Kovalov made three 3-pointers in 3:10 to cut Purdue's lead to 25-22, but the Boilermakers closed the half with a 6-0 run to lead 31-22 at halftime. The Boilermakers held the Mastodons to 32 percent shooting in the first half.

Johnson's alley-oop dunk on a lob from Jackson was the highlight of a 13-2 run that gave Purdue a 44-24 lead early in the second half. The Boilermakers made their first six shots of the second half, all from in close.

Byrd made three 3-pointers in a two-minute span to push the lead to 68-44 with 4:07 to play.

Purdue shot 65 percent in the second half and 53 percent overall. The Boilermakers made 10 of 22 3-pointers and had 26 assists on 31 baskets.