Purdue Opens Season With 80-40 Win Over Samford
By Clinton Cole
Nov 14, 2014; West Lafayette, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Rapheal Davis (35) dribbles between Samford Bulldogs guard Christen Cunningham (10) and forward Jamal Shabazz (5) in the second half of the game at Mackey Arena. Purdue won 80-40. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Three Boilermakers score in double-figures to lead Purdue to an easy, season-opening victory
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – Matt Painter’s Purdue Boilermakers opened their 2014-2015 season with an 80-40 drubbing of the Bulldogs from Samford behind 13 points and eight rebounds from freshman Vince Edwards.
Edwards, a 6’7 freshman from Ohio, added a couple assists in his 17 minutes on the floor and was asked about what it meant to him to be on the floor that much as a freshman.
"“It definitely builds my confidence just knowing that your coach has that much confidence in you to step in right away to play, said Edwards. “That just boosts my confidence and takes a lot of weight off my shoulders, but I also know I have a lot to do.”"
Purdue used a 19-0 run in the first half and led 35-11 at the 3:15 mark fueled by defense and sharing the basketball.
Kendall Stephens connected three times from downtown in the first half and led the Boilermakers with nine points at intermission.
"“It just helps when you can knock down shots,” said Stephens. “It gets open lanes for the drivers and for AJ to have more space in the post. The game is a lot easier when you’re able to knock down shots.”"
As a team, Purdue shot 67% from the field in the first half en route to a 43-27 halftime lead over their Southern Conference foe.
Purdue also assisted on 13 of their 16 buckets in the first half and 21 of 26 for the game. Seven different Boilermakers had at least two assists in the game.
Painter was pleased with the way his team distributed the ball:
"“Making that extra pass and finding the open guy was the key,” said Painter. “Our guys have really been good with it in practice in terms of moving the ball and sharing the basketball and just making unselfish plays.”"
A 12-2 run by Purdue to open the second half put Scott Padgett’s Bulldogs away for good. Samford didn’t even record their 20th point until a three-pointer by Jamal Shabazz with 15 minutes to play in the game.
The Boilermakers continued their stellar defense in the second half and didn’t allow Samford to get closer than 32 points.
Purdue used a zone almost exclusively and only allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 23% from the field in the game.
Painter liked what he saw but knows there is room for improvement:
"“We had four of those turnovers in the last three minutes. Not making your free throws is something that will get you beat; so even though you have a good game and have a good start, you still had 16 turnovers as a team and shot 62% from the line. Those things will get you beat. We also had a few break downs in our zone, but it’s a great first win for us.”"
Christen Cunningham was the only player to score in double figures for Samford. He finished with 10 points.
As for the Boilermakers, Rapheal Davis tied Edwards with a team-high 13 points. Kendall Stephens added 10 in the impressive victory over the Bulldogs.
Thoughts: Purdue dominated a Samford team that only won six games last year. While it’s a far cry from the Big Ten, it’s good to see a young Boilermaker team take care of business at home to open the season.
Two areas that Matt Painter wasn’t thrilled about in the postgame press conference were the turnovers (21) and the free-throw shooting (61%).
Rapheal Davis was well aware of the improvements the Boilers need to make:
"“We could have taken care of the ball better,” Davis said. “Going against different teams, we’re not going to win with that amount of turnovers. We aren’t going to win shooting the ball at 62% from the free throw line.”"
Issac Haas and the other freshman played well in their debut and appear to fit right in with this team. Haas finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Dakota Mathias chipped in with six points and Jacquil Taylor added seven. P.J. Thompson did a fairly good job dishing out three assists to just one turnover in his team-high 21 minutes of action.
AJ Hammons only tallied five points and three rebounds, but did have four blocked shots.
Next Game: Purdue (1-0) hosts IUPUI at 3pm on Sunday.