Purdue seniors Moore, Johnson continue to plague IU

Following the Hoosiers’ loss at Purdue earlier this month, IU coach Tom Crean pined for the day when he wouldn’t have to face senior Boilermakers JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore.

Unless a date awaits the rivals in the Big Ten tournament, that day has officially come.

The forward-guard tandem led the way to a 72-61 Purdue victory against IU on Wednesday in Assembly Hall, the fifth-straight loss for the Hoosiers. Johnson led all scorers with 20 points while Moore followed closely with 17.

“Those two make the game so much easier for everybody else,” Crean said of the duo. “They allow people to play over their talent level, and that’s what great players do. We knew we had to be really good at stopping those two, and we weren’t.”

It’s no secret why Crean is welcoming the change in West Lafayette. In the three seasons Crean has held the top job at IU, Johnson and Moore have averaged 16.8 and 20.6 points per game against the Hoosiers, respectively.

Purdue is 5-0 against IU in that time span, its longest win streak against its biggest rival since a seven-game streak from 1968-1972.

“Those guys make the game so much easier for their teammates,” Crean said. “If we weren’t competing against them, it’d be a joy to sit back and watch them.”

In their latest episode Wednesday, Johnson and Moore found multiple ways to terrorize the Hoosiers.

Johnson opened the game by scoring six of the Boilermakers’ first 11 points, making two baskets, and making two of them with a contesting hand in his face. Facing foul trouble early, he didn’t make another field goal the rest of the first half.

But the Boilermakers were still able to build a 10-point advantage at the break, thanks in large part to Moore.

The shifty guard burned the Hoosiers with 5-of-6 shooting in the first half for 11 points, while adding a pair of assists and a block.

Sophomore guard Jordan Hulls said that those missed defensive assignments were a result of poor transition defense, especially in the first half.

“Transition was killer for us,” Hulls said. “They had wide-open threes. E’Twaun got hot a little bit, JaJuan was hitting some of the post moves. But they’re good players, so give them a lot of credit for that.”

As Moore cooled in the second half, Johnson took the game back over. Again, he opened the half with the Boilermakers’ first two field goals and had 14 of his points in the second half.

As the Hoosiers made valiant runs at a comeback, it was Moore and Johnson who continued to give the momentum right back to Purdue.

After IU closed to within three points with 10:22 remaining, the two combined for seven straight Purdue points to extend its lead to eight.

The Hoosiers wouldn’t get closer the rest of the way.

“We showed a lot of poise with our veterans, and they didn’t let themselves get rattled,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “There were a couple times where Indiana could have pushed the lead but we played our offense pretty well.”

Crean said that at one point during the attempted comeback, the Hoosiers missed five consecutive shots from one foot away and closer.

It symbolized both how the Hoosiers just couldn’t find that final gear and the resiliency of a Purdue squad led by the four-year players IU doesn’t have.

“We couldn’t get over the hump,” Crean said. “When we were missing close shots, they’d come back and they’d make something. But they’re a very good team, and those two are not only All-Big Ten players, but I don’t know how they both don’t make numerous All-American teams.”