Purdue Slips Past Penn State; Clinches Big Ten Title
March 6, 2010 at 1:27 PM by AHN · Leave a Comment
State College, PA, United States (AHN) – The Purdue Boilermakers picked up a 64-60 road win over the Penn State Nittany Lions to clinch a share of the regular season Big Ten Championship.
The win capped off a stellar late season run for the Boilermakers, who closed out the regular season by winning 12 of their last 13 games to give Purdue its first conference title in 14 years.
“It’s just a great feeling, especially for our players who really sacrificed a lot and battled,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “It’s good to see that locker room and see all the smiles on their faces because they know this was a team effort.”
Purdue, which never trailed in the game, received a game-high 21 points from forward JaJuan Johnson and got an additional 17 from guard Grant Keaton.
After trailing by as much as 13 points and falling behind by a score of 58-49 with 4:45 remaining in the game, Penn State came back with a 6-0 rally.
A three-pointer from guard Chris Babb and a lay-up from center Andrew Jones shrunk Purdue’s lead to 58-55.
Purdue was quick to respond, however, as its ensuing possession resulted in a 3-pointer by guard E’Twaun Moore.
Moore got his shot off just before a shot clock violation, and his desperation shot banked off the backboard and in for a 61-55 lead with 1:00 to play.
Trailing 61-57 with 19 seconds to play, Babb was fouled from three point range and made all three shots to pull Penn State to within one at 61-60.
Purdue then made a pair of free throws to increase its lead to 63-60.
Talor Battle, Penn State’s leading scorer, had to leave the game in the second half due to a stomach illness, so it would be up to someone else to try and hit the equalizer.
That someone was Babb, who put up a tough 3-pointer that bounced off the rim. In the scramble for the loose ball, Penn State knocked it out of bounds to give the ball – and the game – to Purdue.
Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said that a season chalked full of heartbreaking losses only makes his team look forward to the Big Ten tournament that much more.
“Our kids have hung in there and they’ve continued to fight and for that, I’m proud of them,” DeChellis said. “I think we’ve played a lot better the last couple weeks, giving ourselves a chance. Everybody is 0-0 now, and Matt (Painter) told me that nobody wants to play you guys in the tournament.”
Brooks echoed his coach’s sentiment.
“The only thing I can say is that we’re just looking forward to the tournament,” Brooks said. “We feel pretty confident about ourselves and we all feel that we’re dangerous.”
