Hot-shooting 1st half carries No. 21 Purdue to easy victory
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) With two talented 7-footers and 6-9 McDonald's All-American Caleb Swanigan, No. 21 Purdue is a difficult team to play against.
Outmanned Incarnate Word learned that quickly Wednesday night, when the a Boilermakers set a school record for rebounding margin in a 96-61 victory in the Tipoff Hall of Fame game.
Isaac Haas, a 7-2 sophomore center, led the way with 17 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, Swanigan added 10 points, six rebounds and three assists and 7-footer A.J. Hammons had eight points, six rebounds and three blocks. The Boilermakers outrebounded them 56-19.
''I think our size overwhelms opponents before the game even starts,'' said Purdue senior guard Rapheal Davis, who had 14 points and three assists. ''On paper, to be so big, you have to game plan for it. On paper, you can see the size, but you can't see our guards' ability to shoot the ball. You have to pick your poison.''
Purdue shot 72 percent from the field during a 53-point first half. The Boilermakers (3-0) made 11 of their first 12 two-point attempts and finished the first 20 minutes 17 of 19 (89.5 percent) inside the arc.
''I think getting all that scoring inside is good for us,'' said Haas, who was 5 of 7 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line. ''I think they respected our guards a lot. I know that their coach said something about the fact that we set a school record last game for 3s (18), so they decided to guard our guards.''
A 3-pointer from Kyle Hittle with 8:54 left in the half pulled Incarnate Word (2-1) to within 22-17, but during the final 8:38, the Boilermakers outscored the Cardinals 31-7, building a 53-24 lead at intermission.
Rapheal Davis had 11 first-half points, and Haas added 10 to go with seven rebounds. Vince Edwards finished with 13 and Kendall Stephens had 12.
The appearance was the first this season for Hammons, who was benched for the first two games for reasons coach Matt Painter would not specify. Hammons entered the game with 14:22remaining in the first half. He had six points and four rebounds in his first six minutes.
''It was tough,'' Hammons said of sitting out, ''I was mad, but it was just some business I had to handle. Tonight, I was just trying to take my time and take shots I know I can hit. I was trying to take the ball straight in and then protect the rim.''
Purdue finished with 13 blocked shots and limited the Cardinals to 28.4 percent shooting (21 of 74).
''Hopefully, A.J. can learn from this and continue to take care of his business,'' Painter said. ''He did a good job tonight impacting the game, but Isaac Haas was the best player on the floor tonight.
''We made some nice intermediate shots, but we had 22 turnovers, in part because we weren't clean on switches, and then we got sloppy and careless. We made all different kinds of turnovers.''
But the way Purdue dominated the interior, it did not matter. The Boilermakers finished shooting 59.6 percent from the field and 86.4 percent from the line.
A dunk by Edwards with 15:37 remaining pushed the Boilermakers' lead to 66-26.
Hittle led Incarnate Word with 17 points, including five 3-pointers.
Through three games, Purdue is 39 of 88 from 3-point range (44.3 percent) and is averaging 94.7 points.
TIP-INS
Incarnate Word: Before facing Purdue, Hittle was averaging a team-leading 14 points ... Six Cardinals came in averaging between 8.5 and 14 points .... In Its first Division I season, Incarnate Word was 18-11, including victories against Nebraska and Princeton, and earned a spot in the College Insider postseason tournament.
Purdue: By defeating the Cardinals, the Boilermakers improved to 36-1 in November home games in Painter's 11 seasons at his alma mater ... Big men Haas, Hammons and Swanigan were a collective 12 of 20 from the field and 10 of 12 from the line.
ON THE RISE
Haas is averaging a team-leading 15 points and also eight rebounds a game for a team that has five players averaging in double figures. He is 14 of 21 from the field.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
''You have to come out and play hard from the jump, just like you have to wake up and start your day,'' Davis said of the Boilermakers fast start.
UP NEXT
Incarnate Word: at Oklahoma on Nov. 24
Purdue: versus Old Dominion on Saturday in Uncasville, Conn.
