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Purdue can claim share of Big Ten title with win at Penn State

State College, PA (Sports Network) - The seventh-ranked Purdue Boilermakers will try to grab a share of the Big Ten regular-season title today, as they take on the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Ohio State has already wrapped up a piece of the Big Ten title and the No.1 seed in the upcoming league tourney, but both Purdue and Michigan State could also earn a share of the regular season crown. A win today, would not only give Purdue its first Big Ten regular-season championship since 1996, but the Boilermakers would also land the second seed for the conference tournament. The Boilermakers, who had the inside track for the conference crown until a loss to Michigan State on Sunday, bounced back from that defeat with a 74-55 besting of Indiana on Wednesday. Purdue has now won 11 of its last 12 outings to improve to 25-4 overall and 13-4 within the conference.

PSU meanwhile, is going to finish near the bottom of the standings, as it has gone just 3-14 in conference play. The Lions had won three of four outings heading into Thursday's matchup with nationally-ranked Michigan State, but they didn't have enough to pull off the upset in a 67-65 setback.

As for the all-time series, Purdue holds a 23-10 advantage over PSU and the Boilermakers have won seven of the past eight meetings, including a 66-46 triumph in late January.

After losing their first game without Robbie Hummel in the lineup, Purdue rebounded by shooting 49.0 percent from the flour and 21-of-31 in a 74-55 victory over Indiana on Wednesday. The Boilermakers, who will not have the services of Hummel (15.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg ) for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL, also scored 22 points off 18 Indiana turnovers. E'Twaun Moore led the attack with 21 points and six boards, while Chris Kramer stepped in Hummel's absence with a season-high 18 points. JaJuan Johnson also got into the mix, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds. For the season, Moore continues to pace the Boilermakers in scoring at 16.9 ppg and he will be asked to do even more without Hummel around. Johnson is another player that will need to elevate his game, not that his production of 14.7 ppg and 7.1 rpg is bad in any way.

The Lions gave Michigan State all it could handle on Thursday, but came up short after being dominated on the boards, 39-26. PSU was also outscored in the paint, 36-20, although it did keep things interesting by shooting 46.0 percent from the floor and making nine three-pointers. Talor Battle and Chris Babb each tallied 16 points to lead the way and the duo also combined for 13 assists. Clearly the team's most dependable player, Battle leads the Lions with 18.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.2 apg and 33 steals. David Jackson is next with 9.6 ppg and Babb gets involved with 9.0 ppg.


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