No. 10 Purdue A Near 10-Point Favorite Over No. 16 Wisconsin

Sports News - January 28th, 2010 - Written By John

Momentum is a tricky thing. One minute you are looking back at 14 wins, just one win from setting a school-record for consecutive wins to start the year. The next thing you know it's three losses in a row and scrambling to maintain a spot in the polls.

So was for Purdue, anyway. Prior to heading to Wisconsin on Jan. 9, the Boilermakers were one of the hottest teams in the land, racing to a no. 4 ranking and opening eyes all over the northeast.

The Badgers won by seven, and Purdue would lose the next two.

Now, the Big Ten leading Boilermakers are back on the right streak, winners of two in a row and are out for revenge as they host 16th-ranked Wisconsin on Thursday night.

Purdue hasn't been swept by Wisconsin since 2004-05, and thus College Basketball Betting Lines have them favored by 9 1/2, according to DSI Sportsbook, with a total of 126. The Badgers have covered the spread only once in the last eight meetings, although the underdog in this series is 7-1 ATS over the last eight.

But it's clear that the Boilermakers go as JaJuan Johnson goes, at least for the moment. He averages 14.2 points per game, including 22.5 over the last two games, but hit a rare cold streak when his team went on their skid. He only scored 18 total points in that span, and shot 42-percent.

“We talked...about JaJuan Johnson getting the basketball more and really that being a two way street,” said coach Matt Painter. “He can say all day ‘they’re not getting the ball to me,’ and they can say he’s not open, but you have got to work together to get him the basketball.”

Good news. Johnson put up 20 points and 10 rebounds the last time Wisconsin came to visit, and Purdue has won three-straight at home against their conference rivals.

E'Twaun Moore leads Purdue with 17.5 points per game, but junior Robbie Hummel isn't far behind with 16.1

The Badgers are fresh off a hard-fought 79-71 overtime win over Penn State last weekend, rallying from an eight-point deficit late in the game to force extra time. But falling behind has been sort of Wisconsin's M.O. this year, a troubling trend that could put it in hot water against the Boilermakers.

It has averaged less than 22 points before halftime in each of it's last three, not good considering it has averaged less than 57 points in all of it's last three trips to Purdue.

“It’s good we have players who have confidence and grit to keep shooting the ball knowing the percentages play in our favor,” guard Jason Bohannon said. “We’re a good shooting team. Just because the numbers don’t show it, that doesn’t mean anything about it.”