West Lafayette, IN (Sports Network) - Robbie Hummel had 17 points, and 24th- ranked Purdue took the lead in the Big Ten race by pulling away from Penn State to win, 67-53, at Mackey Arena.

E'Twaun Moore finished with 16 points, and Marcus Green chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds for Purdue (18-5, 9-1 Big Ten), which won its eighth in a row.

"I'm proud of our guys for not getting too down around Christmas time; we could have crumbled," said Purdue head coach Matt Painter. "It makes you realize we could lose to anyone at anytime, but we have beat some tough teams. I'm proud of our staff and players and we're going to stay the course. It's not a 10-game season, we have a lot of basketball left to play."

The Boilermakers came into Tuesday's game tied for first in the conference standings with idle Wisconsin, which next plays on Wednesday. The win gives Purdue its first 9-1 Big Ten record since the 1989-90 season.

Mike Walker connected on 4-of-6 three-pointers to finish with 12 points for Penn State (11-11, 3-7), which failed to knock off its second top-25 team in as many games.

The Nittany Lions upended then-No. 8 Michigan State, 85-76, on Sunday. But Penn State has nevertheless now lost seven of eight. Talor Battle had 10 points for Penn State.

"That's what's special about them," said Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis, of Purdue's balanced attack. "They can beat you in so many ways. Keaton (Grant) didn't score much tonight, but (Marcus) Green did. They have six or seven guys that can beat you on any given night. They're a really good team and really well-balanced."

The teams traded baskets for much of the second half, though the Nittany Lions were consistently a few points behind. Additionally, Penn State played all but six minutes of the second half without forward Jamelle Cornley, who left the game after hitting his mouth on the floor and needed stitches.

Without him, almost at the midway point of the half, Battle made a jumper to bring the Nittany Lions within 48-43.

But Purdue scored the next eight points to take control of the contest. Keaton Grant started it with three-point play, Moore made a pair of free throws, and Green made 1-of-2 from the line.

Hummel capped it with a pair of free throws with 7:19 left, giving the Boilermakers a 56-43 lead. That was enough of a cushion, as Penn State didn't get closer than 10 points again.

"We did a much better job rebounding the ball in the second half," Painter said. "In that last 10 minutes we made more shots and did a better job on the glass. We got them to take some ill-advised shots and caused some turnovers."

Purdue raced out to a 14-4 lead, though the Nittany Lions got back in the game by hitting three straight shots. Dan Morrissey made back-to-back threes, and Jeff Brooks hit a jumper to bring Penn State within 14-12 midway through the first half.

It was a close game until halftime, and Andrew Jones made 1-of-2 free throws with 18 seconds left to bring Penn State within 33-30 at the break.