As Purdue head coach Matt Painter was escorted off the Assembly Hall court with 8:08 remaining and D.J. Richardson calmly sank four straight free throws to give Illinois a 22-point lead, it certainly felt like a changing of the guard.

An Illinois program that had lost its past eight contests against Purdue exorcised some Boilermaker demons Wednesday night, culminating in those four consecutive free throws after Painter was ejected with two technical fouls.

While Painter spent the rest of the night waiting in the bowels of Assembly Hall contemplating his meltdown, Illinois breezed to its third straight conference victory, pummeling Purdue 79-59.

Though the victory seemed sealed after Richardson’s free throws, Illinois laid the foundations for a winning performance much earlier in the game. Illinois head coach John Groce preached toughness in the days leading up to the Purdue tilt, and toughness was evident at the outset.

Illinois was outrebounded 45-35 in the last matchup against Purdue — a 68-61 defeat on Jan. 2 — including a crucial offensive rebound on a Purdue free-throw attempt by Boilermaker guard D.J. Byrd that clinched the game.

The battle for rebounds skewed in a different direction Wednesday, with the Illini holding the edge 44-34. Twenty of those rebounds were offensive, a season-high for a team that struggled in that facet earlier in the season.

“We were active. We were really engaged. We looked good, instinctively, and I watch that as a coach,” Groce said. “We were locked in from beginning to end.”

Even more unlikely, but perhaps a good omen for the remainder of the season, was the total team characteristic of the win. Illinois’ leading scorer entering the game, Brandon Paul, scored only three points, yet Illinois blew out Purdue by 20 points.

Sam McLaurin bodied his way to three crucial offensive rebounds and countless other tips to keep possessions alive.

“(Sam) was just active,” Groce said. “He’s got great awareness. He just sees things. It’s a gift. The stat sheet doesn’t come close to telling the whole story on the defensive end.”

Myke Henry exploded for eight points in the first half, then didn’t touch the court in the second half. Joseph Bertrand soared for 12 rebounds and easy put-backs.

And then there was the steadying presence of the usual suspects in Illinois’ lineup. Richardson led the way scoring with 18 points and Tracy Abrams ran the show, posting 13 points, five rebounds and seven assists on two turnovers.

Wednesday night’s game marked the third victory in seven days for Illinois, drastically changing the outlook on the season in that last week. The team is in such a rhythm that Groce doesn’t want to take the NCAA-mandated day off on Thursday.

“I’m disappointed we have to take a day off tomorrow” Groce said. “We’ve had a heck of a stretch, but we’re on a roll right now.”

Thomas can be reached at [email protected] and @ThomasBruch.