E'Twaun Moore scored 22 points.

Feb. 27, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - E'Twaun Moore scored 22 points and No. 16 Purdue beat Minnesota 65-53 Wednesday night to move into a tie for the Big Ten lead.

Robbie Hummel had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Keaton Grant added 11 points for Purdue (22-6, 13-2 Big Ten), which is tied with Wisconsin and Indiana for the conference lead.

Lawrence McKenzie led Minnesota (17-10, 7-8) with 13 points. Dan Coleman had 10 points and 13 rebounds and Spencer Tollackson had 10 points in Minnesota's second-lowest scoring game of the season.

It was Purdue's first game since a Feb. 19 loss at Indiana, a game that halted an 11-game winning streak. The victory over Minnesota gave the Boilermakers their best start since the 1997-98 season.

Purdue held Minnesota to 36 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers to offset the Gophers' 43-29 rebounding edge.

The Boilermakers kept Minnesota scoreless for the first five minutes of the second half and took a 34-26 lead.

Purdue was building its lead when Moore, as if on cue, made a layup just as the student section finished singing the school fight song to give the Boilermakers a 42-29 edge.

A 3-pointer by Moore gave Purdue a 51-35 lead with 7:35 to play, and the game wasn't close after that.

Purdue led 19-9 with 8:20 left in the first half before Minnesota went on a 15-2 run to take a 24-21 lead.

Grant answered with a 3-pointer to tie the score with a minute left in the half.

Purdue's Tarrance Crump hit a mid-range jumper with 28 seconds left, then McKenzie tied the game on a layup. Grant made a desperation heave from just inside halfcourt as time expired to give Purdue a 29-26 lead.