Bishop Luers cornerback TyVel Jemison, who signed a National Letter of Intent with Purdue, will instead head to Grand Valley State.WEST LAFAYETTE – D.J. Byrd scored 17 points to help Purdue defeat West Virginia 79-52 on Saturday afternoon.
Rapheal Davis added 16 points, Anthony Johnson 12 and Terone Johnson 11 for the Boilermakers (10-8), who won their third straight.
Purdue shot 49 percent from the field and outrebounded the Mountaineers 44-34.
Eron Harris scored 10 points for West Virginia, which barely surpassed its season low of 50 points. Harris was the only Mountaineers player to reach double figures. The Mountaineers (8-9) have lost three straight and four of five.
West Virginia shot just 29 percent from the field, and the Mountaineers had six assists and 17 turnovers.
It was the third consecutive opponent Purdue has held below 34 percent shooting. Penn State shot 26 percent Sunday in Purdue’s 60-42 win and Nebraska shot 33 percent as the Boilermakers prevailed 65-56 in Lincoln,Neb., on Wednesday night.
The Boilermakers improved to 6-1 all-time against West Virginia. The win gave Purdue a 7-6 record in nonconference play.
Terone Johnson scored on a jumper to give Purdue an early 11-7 lead. Byrd’s three-pointer pushed the advantage to 18-11 with just more than 8 minutes left in the first half. Another three by Byrd made it 21-13.
The Boilermakers extended their lead to 27-16 on a layup by Davis, and the advantage ballooned to 30-18 on another three by Byrd.
The Boilermakers led 37-23 at halftime after holding the Mountaineers to 8-of-30 shooting in the first half. Byrd led the way with 11 points on 3-for-5 three-point shooting.
A.J. Hammons opened the second half with a dunk that pushed Purdue’s lead to 17 in the opening minute.
Byrd made three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt to put the Boilermakers went up 42-23, and a floater by Ronnie Johnson pushed the lead to 21.
West Virginia finally scored on a pair of free throws more than 3 minutes into the second half, but Davis answered with a three-pointer to bump Purdue’s lead to 47-25.
Davis hit another three to make it 52-27, and the Boilermakers rolled from there.
