For nearly 20 minutes, Valparaiso was giving No. 19 Purdue a scare. The tiny gym that holds just over 5,000 people was rocking and the Crusaders were feeding off the emotion. Senior guard Brandon Wood got a hot hand and Valpo found itself right in the game. In fact, the Crusaders held a lead with 18:34 left in the game, 34-33. An 8-0 start propelled Purdue into the lead for good and the Boilermakers progressively tacked points onto the lead, cruising to an eventual 76-58 victory. Senior guard E'Twaun Moore led the Boilers (8-1) with 23 points, while JaJuan Johnson and Kelsey Barlow added 13 apiece.
Wood led Valpo (6-3) with 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting.
How It Was Won: Purdue buckled down in the second half and started playing their game. The Boilers didn't settle for quick shots and instead found open ones, using their superior athleticism to exploit the inferior foe. They also shut down Wood late, mostly by preventing him from getting an open shot, as he scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half.
How It Was Lost: There's only so far tenacity and a fired-up home crowd can carry a team with so much less talent. Valpo simply ran out of steam and wasn't able to keep up.
Key Stat: Sophomore Kelsey Barlow scored a career-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Since the opponent was only a Horizon League foe, we aren't ready to anoint Barlow the Robbie Hummel replacement -- but it's certainly a positive sign for the Boilers.
What We Didn't Like: It's going to be nitpicking in an 18-point victory, but JaJuan Johnson was just 4 of 9 from the floor until a trash time lay-in. With so few other interior scoring options, even if Johnson was getting doubled. Purdue needs to see more from the big man -- otherwise it might run into problems in Big Ten play.
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