Purdue coach Matt Painter had been unhappy with some of his
veterans, but he went to them when the Boilermakers needed a
game-saving defensive stop, and they delivered.
Wisconsin's Trevon Hughes missed a contested runner in the
closing seconds, and the 10th-ranked Boilermakers held off the No.
16 Badgers 60-57 Thursday night in a back-and-forth matchup of Big
Ten contenders.
"When it comes to the end of the game, experience definitely
comes in," Purdue junior guard E'Twaun Moore said. "Just keep your
composure, just play and just defend. The guys did a good job of
completing the game."
Painter has been tinkering with his lineup in recent games,
trying to find a rotation that would play with the passion Purdue
has become known for. Junior center JaJuan Johnson didn't start
Thursday because he showed up late. Painter took senior Chris
Kramer out of the starting lineup against Illinois, and another
senior, Keaton Grant, had lost his starting job to freshman Kelsey
Barlow.
All three were in for the final 6 seconds against the
Badgers.
Moore, who led the Boilermakers with 20 points, scored in the
lane with 25.2 seconds left to give Purdue a 58-57 lead. Wisconsin
worked the clock down for a shot and Hughes missed badly on a
pull-up jumper, but the ball bounced out of bounds off a Purdue
player with 6 seconds to play.
Johnson checked back into the game, and he made a difference.
Hughes, a 6-foot guard, missed a bank shot after the 6-foot-10
Johnson and 6-8 Robbie Hummel rotated over, and Johnson rebounded.
Johnson was fouled with a second left and made both free
throws. Kramer intercepted Wisconsin's long inbounds pass from
under its basket to seal the win.
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan was fine with Hughes taking the shot,
even though Keaton Nankivil scored a career-high 25 points and shot
7 of 8 on 3-pointers for the Badgers (16-5, 6-3).
"The shot I look for is the one that goes through the bottom
of the net," Ryan said. "If you know your history, it's probably
not a bad guy to have the ball in his hands."
Johnson scored 14 and Hummel had 12 points, 13 rebounds and
five assists for the Boilermakers (17-3, 5-3), who won their third
straight and moved within a half-game of Wisconsin for second place
in the conference. A loss would have left Purdue four games behind
league leader Michigan State with 10 to play.
Nankivil was 9 for 14 overall, but his teammates went 11 for
36 from the field.
Hummel fell one rebound short of his career high. He was
forced to carry much of the rebounding load because Nankivil pulled
Johnson away from the basket. Purdue outrebounded Wisconsin 37-25.
"I was fortunate the ball bounced my way a few times," Hummel
said. "It was just one of those nights where it seemed like the
ball was coming my way. We had to steal possessions and the only
way we could do that was rebounding. It probably won the game for
us."
Wisconsin's guard trio of Hughes, Jordan Taylor and Jason
Bohannon combined for 57 points in a home victory over Purdue
earlier this month. The Boilermakers held them to 25 points on
8-for-28 shooting this time.
"We didn't do nothing differently, we just guarded better,"
Moore said. "That's it. We knew their guards were very aggressive
off the bounce and looking to score, so we knew every time they
caught the ball, we've got to be ready and be ready to keep them in
front of us."
Purdue point guard Lewis Jackson played for first time this
season. Jackson, who started as a freshman last season, injured his
left foot during the preseason.
Wisconsin held Purdue scoreless for the first 5:44 of the
second half to take a 34-27 lead.
The Boilermakers rallied quickly. A putback tip and a
3-pointer by reserve John Hart, then two free throws by Hummel tied
the score at 38 with 11 minutes left. Moore's layup gave the lead
back to Purdue and prompted Wisconsin to call timeout.
The Boilermakers pushed the lead to 56-49 before Wisconsin
started chipping away. A 3-pointer by Nankivil cut it to 56-52,
then a steal and layup by Taylor made it a two-point game.
Another 3 by Nankivil with 42 seconds left gave Wisconsin a
57-56 lead and set up the frantic ending.
Painter liked the fact that the Boilermakers won with their
defense.
"We really try to emphasize with our guys, even though
E'Twaun Moore made a huge basket down the stretch, more times than
not you're getting a defensive stop to win a game than you are
scoring a basket," Painter said.
