WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — For the past two seasons, Purdue has had Robbie Hummel and JaJuan Johnson. What the Boilermakers haven’t been able to put on the court at the same time is a healthy Hummel and confident Johnson.

They hope that changes this season.

Hummel, a first-team All-Big Ten player as a freshman, battled back problems most of last year.

Johnson, more of a role player as a freshman, emerged last year as a sophomore, in no small part because he was needed in Hummel’s absence.

Johnson had what teammate Chris Kramer called “a sophomore explosion” and became a first-team All-Big Ten selection.

The 6-8 Hummel has been pain-free since early summer, and the 6-10 Johnson has seen his confidence only continue to rise.

Those two working together will be a key for a team that won 27 games last year and reached the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.

“I think that’s going to cause a lot of matchup problems for a lot of teams,” said Johnson, a Franklin Central High School graduate. "Rob, he can do it inside and outside. I can do it inside and I’m starting to do it outside.

“It makes us hard for other teams to guard when you’ve got E’Twaun (Moore), Keaton (Grant) and (Chris) Kramer and all those other guys making outside shots.”

Hummel had an immediate impact, starting 31 games as a freshman. He averaged 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds and shot 45 percent from 3-point range.

As a sophomore, he averaged 12.5 points and seven rebounds while shooting 38 percent from the arc.

Johnson went from averaging 5.4 points and 3.1 rebounds as a freshman to 13.4 points and 5.6 rebounds as a sophomore.

Having a healthy Hummel and confident Johnson would be “tremendous,” said Grant, a senior.

“Since they’ve been here, we haven’t had the whole five healthy the whole time,” Grant said. "When they got here, I was hurt. Last year, Rob was hurt.

“With everybody healthy, we can be so tenacious on defense it would be crazy. We could have a high-powered offense, and being able to lock people up on defense, that could be a really scary thing for opponents and real exciting for Purdue nation.”

Hummel’s passing is another dimension. He has 146 assists and is on pace to finish among the top 25 in school history in that category as a power forward.

Johnson’s rise last year was arguably the biggest in the Big Ten.

He was strongest near the end of the season. He scored a team-high 22 points and had four blocked shots, include two late that preserved Purdue’s 76-74 second-round NCAA Tournament victory over Washington.

“I think JaJuan’s going to have a great season,” Hummel said. "He’s really done a good job in the offseason of developing his left hand.

“I think teams started noticing last year that he was always turning to his left shoulder and putting it up with his right hand. He’s definitely made himself more versatile in the post.”