Purdue 76, Miami 65

Miami went to a small lineup, and Purdue made the Hurricanes pay.

The Boilermakers shot 55 percent to defeat Miami 76-65 on Tuesday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

Miami didn't have a starter taller than 6-foot-6. That prompted Purdue, which normally takes more than 40 percent of its shots from beyond the 3-point line, to focus on shooting from close range. The Boilermakers still took 16 3-pointers, but they made 22 of 31 shots inside the 3-point line.

Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga knew he was taking a risk.

''Quite frankly, we're going through a little bit of a transition of learning what we're capable of doing,'' he said. ''We changed our starting lineup, and we were very, very small. They immediately went inside against us and got us into some foul trouble.''

Robbie Hummel had 17 points and five rebounds, Lewis Jackson scored 15 points and Terone Johnson added 13 for the Boilermakers, who won their Challenge matchup for the third straight year and claimed their 22nd straight home victory.

Jackson is only 5-foot-9, but he was one of the main beneficiaries of Purdue's aggressive approach. The point guard constantly weaved his way through Miami's defense.

''Coach (Matt) Painter always tells me to attack,'' Jackson said. ''Sometimes I think I get too passive and guys get on me, but I saw the way they were playing. They were hugged up so much on these guys. That created more lanes, so I had even more opportunities to get to the rim.''

Purdue reserves Terone Johnson and Anthony Johnson combined to score 15 points in the second half.

''I told our team before the game, one of the strong qualities about Purdue is that they have a very good starting unit but also an excellent bench, and that Johnson and Johnson are very capable of coming in and hurting us,'' Larranaga said.

Malcolm Grant and Shane Larkin each scored 16 points for Miami (4-2). Larkin had averaged just 5.3 points this season before the outburst.

But the Boilermakers held Miami to 39 percent shooting, in part because they stopped Miami's penetration.

''In practice, you get tired of hearing about it,'' Hummel said. ''That's where it all starts. We have to help our bigs stay out of foul trouble. We have to help this team be better on defense. ''

Painter said his team passed a tough test.

''I think it was difficult to guard Miami, just because so they have so many athletes and so much quickness, and they spread you out,'' he said.

The Hurricanes have dropped their first two road games. They lost 64-61 at Mississippi on Friday night.

Purdue led 37-25 lead at halftime. Hummel had nine points and Jackson eight at the break.

Jackson opened the second-half scoring with an acrobatic layup. He was fouled on the shot and converted the three-point play.

Purdue increased its lead to 49-36 before Larkin hit two 3-pointers during an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 49-44.

Purdue regained control with a layup by Anthony Johnson and a basket by Terone Johnson after a steal by Jacob Lawson. Kelsey Barlow then stole Miami's inbounds pass and found Anthony Johnson for a layup to push Purdue's lead back up to 61-50 with 8:40 to play.

The Boilermakers remained in control from there. Hummel made 4 of 4 free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

Now the Boilermakers will play at No. 11 Xavier on Saturday.

''We had 30 minutes in the locker room to celebrate the win tonight, and now we have to move on to the next game,'' Terone Johnson said. ''We just played the best guards we've played yet, and now we have to go out and attack the guards we play next because they're going to be the best guards we play again.''

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