Terone Johnson scores 18 as Purdue beats Nebraska 65-56
By SAM KLEMET
ISL Correspondent
It took D.J Byrd a while to get in rhythm, but the Purdue senior found his stroke at the most crucial moments.
Byrd connected on four second half triples and scored all 12 of his points after halftime to lift the Boilermakers past Nebraska, 65-56 Wednesday night in Lincoln.
Games away from Mackey Arena haven’t been particularly kind to Purdue — the Boilers entered Wednesday’s game just 1-5 on the road. This time, Matt Painter’s team found a way to hold on and gets its first conference road win.
Despite some early struggles by Byrd, Purdue jumped out to a 20-11 lead, with all but two points coming from Terone Johnson, A.J. Hammons and Ronnie Johnson.
Those three paced the Boilermakers for most of the night. Terone Johnson poured in 18 points and six rebounds, Hammons finished with 14-points and eight rebounds and Ronnie Johnson chipped in ten points, six assists, and five rebounds.
Purdue took a nine-point lead into halftime and ballooned it to 20 less than five minutes into the second frame.
The Boilers showed their youth during a stretch midway through the second half. Nebraska went on a 17-3 run to cut the deficit to six. During the Cornhuskers’ surge, Purdue made just one field goal in more than seven minutes.
Painter called a timeout with 8:57 to play to stop the bleeding. Byrd proved to be the band-aid. He scored nine of Purdue’s next eleven points, all on threes, and helped push the lead back to nine. Nebraska couldn’t muster another run.
Freshman Shavon Shields led the Cornhuskers with 18 points and Jordan Tyrance scored 10.
Except for the nearly eight-minute second-half stretch, the Boilers defense was again stingy. Purdue held Nebraska to 33-percent shooting. Sunday, Penn State shot just 26 percent at Mackey Arena.
Purdue also won the rebounding battle, 41-33. The Boilers are now 9-3 when outrebounding their opponent.
The win moves Purdue above .500 for just the second time this year. It is also the third time the Boilers have put together a winning streak and it’s one Purdue desperately needs. After opening the Big Ten season 1-2 in consecutive games against three ranked teams, the Boilers are taking advantage of lesser foes with back-to-back wins against Penn State and the Huskers.
The Boilers can pad their postseason resume a little more Saturday in Mackey against West Virginia. Purdue needs to pile up as many Ws as possible now, because after their showdown with the Mountaineers, five of the Boilers next eight opponents are currently ranked in the top 25.
Related: Cliff Brunt: Purdue freshmen can’t play young during stretch of winnable games.
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