Hummel’s 22 points leads No. 4 Purdue past Illinois 75-65 for ninth straight win

Hummel leads No. 4 Purdue past Illinois

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Robbie Hummel had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 4 Purdue finished strong to beat Illinois 75-65 on Saturday for its ninth straight win.

E’Twaun Moore added 18 points and Keaton Grant scored 13 of his season-high 15 points in the second half for the Boilermakers (23-3, 11-3 Big Ten). The win moved Purdue into a tie with No. 11 Michigan State for the conference lead.

Demitri McCamey of Illinois scored six points, and his 16 assists tied for the fourth-most in Big Ten history. Mike Davis had 16 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks and Brandon Paul added 13 points for the Fighting Illini (17-10, 9-5).

Purdue closed the game on a 14-5 run to sweep the season series. The Boilermakers outscored the Fighting Illini 24-3 from the free-throw line.

The Boilermakers won despite 1-of-10 shooting from JaJuan Johnson, who had averaged 21 points in his previous four games.

Illinois led 46-42 in the second half before Grant and Moore hit consecutive 3-pointers from the left corner on assists from Lewis Jackson to give the Boilermakers a 48-46 lead. A turnaround in the lane by Moore pushed the lead to four.

Illinois rallied, and a dunk by Davis on McCamey’s 14th assist gave the Fighting Illini a 56-54 lead.

Purdue pushed back, and a floater in the lane by Moore gave the Boilermakers a 61-56 lead with just under 5 minutes to play.

Illinois made one last surge, and a jumper by Mike Tisdale cut Purdue’s lead to 61-60. Grant capped a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer that gave the Boilermakers a 68-60 lead with 1:30 to play.

Illinois made five of its first eight shots to take an 11-4 lead.

Paul drained a 30-footer as the shot clock expired to give Illinois a 27-25 lead, and D.J. Richardson made a 3-pointer a few minutes later to make it 32-27.

Purdue’s John Hart made a 3-pointer to trim Illinois’ lead to 32-30, then Hummel made two free throws to tie the score.

McCamey found Paul in the left corner for a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in the half to give Illinois a 35-32 lead. It was McCamey’s 11th assist of the first half, tying a career high.

Purdue shot 27 percent in the first half, but outscored Illinois 11-0 from the free-throw line to stay in the game.