WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Matt Painter spent all season searching for answers to Purdue's problems.

Suddenly, the Boilermakers seem to have figured it out.

D.J. Byrd and Rapheal Davis each scored 18 points Saturday and A.J. Hammons had a perfect shooting day as Purdue routed Minnesota 89-73.

Advertisement

``I really feel that in the last couple of weeks, this is the team you wanted to see in December and January,' Painter said after career win No. 200. ``It took too long to get to this point, but I'm glad we're at this point now.'

It's not too late, either.

After upsetting then-No. 17 Wisconsin on the road last Sunday and giving No. 7 Michigan a huge scare Wednesday night, the Boilermakers (15-16, 8-10) will head into the Big Ten tourney seeded sixth, seventh or eighth after dominating Minnesota in almost every conceivable way.

The Boilermakers shot 54.2 percent from the field, 46.7 percent from 3-point range, repeatedly beat Minnesota's patented full-court press, forced five more turnovers than they committed and even beat the Golden Gophers on the glass. Purdue also finished with a season-high point total, topping the 75-point mark for the first time since Jan. 19 and only the second time since Nov. 16.

Want more?

The numbers were so impressive that Painter took a quick glance at the stat sheet and noted ``this is pretty good.'

It was.

Hammons, the 7-foot freshman center, was 6 of 6 from the field and 2 of 2 from the free-throw line. He finished with 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

Davis, another freshman starter, scored 18 points - his second-highest scoring night of the season behind only a 21-point outing against Notre Dame in December.

And Byrd, one of two seniors playing his regular-season home finale, had 18 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and two steals - easily his best game of the season and his best scoring night at Mackey Arena this season, too.

``I did miss that free throw, so that was a little frustrating,' Byrd joked after topping the 17 points he had against West Virginia in a January home game. ``I just tried to play aggressive, keep my guy off the glass, get rebounds and tried to hit to hit the open guy. That's all.'

Yes, the Boilermakers' confidence is bubbling as they head to Chicago for the conference tournament, and after that a likely spot in one of the postseason tournaments.

As Minnesota found out Saturday, this is not a team anybody wants to face in the next couple of weeks.

``They're playing with heart, they're playing with toughness like all Matt Painter and Gene Keady teams do and you have to match that intensity,' Gophers coach Tubby Smith said. ``And now, they've figured out what they do best, which is taking you off the dribble.'

For the Gophers (20-11, 8-10), it was another miserable weekend on the road.

Minnesota has now lost four of its last six overall and eight straight road games since beating Illinois on Jan. 9.

In between, Smith has seen the good - five wins over Top 25 teams including last week's upset of No. 1 Indiana - and the inexplicable such as a 19-point loss at Iowa and the blowout in West Lafayette.

Smith knows exactly how Saturday's game wound up in the latter category.

The Gophers missed seven of their first eight shots, fell into a 20-5 hole less than six minutes into the game and never could completely get back in contention.

Forward Trevor Mbakwe couldn't help much, either. He spent the final 15:07 of the first half on the bench with two fouls and finished with only six points and 10 rebounds.

So Minnesota relied on Andre and Austin Hollins and Rodney Williams to bring them back. Andre Hollins finished with 24 points and nine assists, while Williams added 13 points and six rebounds. Austin Hollins had 12 points in a game that the Gophers simply couldn't get enough stops.

``We couldn't guard them one-on-one, off the dribble and when they threw it inside, A.J. Hammons goes 6 for 6 and 2 for 2. He was perfect,' Smith said. ``We didn't guard anybody.'

It showed.

After bolting to the 20-5 lead, Purdue extended the margin to as much as 32-11. When Minnesota finally pushed back as the Hollinses knocked down back-to-back 3s late in the first half, Purdue answered with an 8-2 spurt to make it 44-27 at halftime.

Minnesota rallied behind a flurry of 3s early in the second half, cutting the deficit to 53-46 with 14:13 to play, but Purdue went on an 8-0 spurt and never let Minnesota get closer than 12 the rest of the way.

``I just wish we could have figured this out a long, long time ago, like everyone else,' said Dru Anthrop, Purdue's other senior. ``But this is when you want to be moving in the right direction, and I think we are.'