Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/97804
Takeaways S After shaking off the ankle injury that plagued him to begin the season, Terone Johnson has really come on lately. In his past four games, he's averaged 16.8 points on 49-percent shooting. His 64-percent foul shooting still isn't where he wants to be, but considering where he was a year ago, it's at least a step forward. The junior has been dangerous off the dribble and in scoring around the basket. But he's also shooting 40 percent from Tom Campbell three-point range in the Terone Johnson has been coming on offensively lately early going of this season, but has also been highly productive as a rebounder. up from 31 last season. first half to the 10:16 mark, Byrd And he's reboundhit three three-pointers to put ing, averaging more than 4.5 per Purdue up 23-9. game now after he's grabbed 23 Key stat in the past three games, including Byrd's shooting obviously a career-high 10 against Xavier. drew the most attention, but it S Time is going to tell was the rebounding margin that whether junior Sandi Marcius is probably mattered even more. the odd man out in Purdue's rotaPurdue won the boards 41- tion at center. 27, giving Clemson no second Hammons is already one of chances in the first half and end- Purdue's most important players ing its hopes in the final minutes at both ends of the floor. He's the by rebounding the Tigers' misses Boilermakers' leading rebounder once their legs got wobbly after and as just a freshman, already their frantic comeback bid. one of their offensive focal points. And Travis Carroll is playing very well in the minutes he's getting off the bench. Carroll is shooting 85 percent this season, having missed just two of his 13 tries. Of course, he's picking his spots well and shooting only high-percentage shots. Marcius, meanwhile, has not been as productive as his fellow center and thus his minutes have dropped off. He didn't so much as leave the bench against Clemson or Xavier. S Rapheal Davis is struggling some as a freshman but has endeared himself to coaches by doing what they ask of them. Because of it, he could get some added opportunities in coming games. S Ronnie Johnson is a much better player than his experience level is allowing him to be right now. The freshman is shooting only 31.7 percent and has just five more assists than he's committed turnovers. When Painter urges players to play to their strengths, the rookie is one of those he's talking directly to. He is shooting less than 10 percent from three-point range, but has tried the third-most threes of anyone on the team. Purdue's two primary point guards, Ronnie Johnson and Anthony Johnson, have a combined to hand out 38 assists, but with 29 turnovers. Since handing out nine assists with no turnovers in the opener, Anthony Johnson has doled out five assists with 10 turnovers in the past seven games. S So far Purdue has lived up to what it's needed to be on the glass, outrebounding opponents by more than 10 per game (43.432.5). But it's not necessarily been because of its added size. Everyone has been rebounding, the sort of collective effort Painter's hoped for, particularly from the Boilermaker guards. Terone Johnson is averaging 4.6 per game and Ronnie Johnson 4.3. Anthony Johnson is at 3.9, as is Byrd, who never averaged better than 3.0 in his prior three seasons. CARDINAL BACK AT PURDUE Cardinal, 35, had been in the NBA since 2000 and was part of the Dallas Mavericks' 2011 championship team. AROUND THE BIG TEN S Purdue's win at Clemson was the Boilermakers' fourth in a row in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and helped the Big Ten end the annual series, 6-6. On the second night of the two-day Challenge, only Purdue and Illinois, which beat Georgia Tech, won. BOILERMAKERS IN THE PROS S After opening the season as a starter, E'Twaun Moore's minutes have hit a sharp decline with the Magic. He's played only 33 total the past three games. S Carl Landry is averaging 13.6 points and 6.9 rebounds off the bench for the Golden State Warriors. Dec. 1, he scored 16 points in a 103-92 win over the Indiana Pacers in Oakland. S JaJuan Johnson scored nine points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBDL on Dec. 1, in a 102-88 loss to the Iowa Energy. Former Boilermaker standout Brian Cardinal, unsigned by an NBA team for this season, is back at Purdue in a role with the John Purdue Club. During the NBA's lockout prior to last season, Cardinal worked with the JPC in a similar capacity j on an internship basis. GoldanDBlack express • volume 23, express 14 • 25