Free throws aid Purdue seniors

WEST LAFAYETTE — On a night of contact drives and no easy shots, JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore reaped the benefits.

The Purdue seniors alone more than doubled IU’s free throw attempts in the Hoosiers’ 67-53 loss at Mackey Arena on Tuesday. IU was outshot at the free throw line 24-3 in the second half and 28-7 overall, with Moore and Johnson combining for 18.

The Hoosiers racked up 15 fouls in the second half, with freshman guard Victor Oladipo fouling out at the 1:28 mark. But junior guard Verdell Jones, who had 10 points without the benefit of a free throw attempt, said fouls went uncalled on the other end.

“When guys are pushing you, poking you, holding you and grabbing your jersey and you can’t get a break, it’s very frustrating,” he said. “But we’ve dealt through that before, so we’ve got to keep fighting through it.”

The disparity in numbers didn’t go unnoticed by IU coach Tom Crean. He said he knew his players were going to have to play through some contact, and he was proud of the way they handled it.

Still, he said he would have liked to see more of a profit for their efforts.

“That’s a tough night in a Big Ten game when the free throw discrepancy is the way it is in the second half,” he said. “That’s life in the Big Ten on the road.”

After being held to three field goals in the first half, Johnson’s lone make in the second half came less than one minute in. And after a jumper at the 13:47 mark, Moore had just one field goal the rest of the way.

But Johnson and Moore were able to draw fouls and add a combined 13 points from the line to close the game.

Moore finished with a game-high 25 points, and even Johnson, Purdue’s second-leading scorer with 15, had more points than IU’s leading scorer.

With 14 points in his sixth career start, that leading man was freshman forward Will Sheehey. He said the Hoosiers’ inability to respond to the Boilermakers’ picks made life easier for Moore.

“There were a lot of times we got caught up in screens, which we can’t do,” Sheehey said. “He got a lot of open shots off screens. I thought we did really well with on-the-ball pressure on him, but we can’t get caught up. Our big guys need to help a little bit more on the screens getting through. We’re definitely going to correct those things.”

Behind their efforts, Moore and Johnson recorded their 100th career win at Purdue and fourth against the Hoosiers under Crean. For him, the time the dynamic duo are done playing against his team can’t come soon enough.

“They’re very good players,” Crean said. “I’m looking forward to the day when those two aren’t in there dominating the game for Purdue. And we’ve got to deal with it one more time.”