Edwards, Stephens lead Purdue past IUPUI, 77-57
By Clinton Cole
Nov 16, 2014; West Lafayette, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers forward Vince Edwards (12) dribbles the ball against IUPUI Jaguars guard D.J. McCall (32) in the second half of the game at Mackey Arena. Purdue Boilermakers beat the IUPUI Jaguars 77-57. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – Vince Edwards and Kendall Stephens led the Purdue Boilermakers to their second home win in as many tries Sunday afternoon as they raced past the IUPUI Jaguars, 77-57.
Edwards, a freshman from Ohio, was all over the court in the first half and finished with 19 points before intermission. He also added three rebounds and two blocks. Edwards led the Boilermakers in scoring with a career-high 26 points. The talented freshman also added eight rebounds and three blocks.
"“I just saw openings. When I see openings I like to attack,” added Edwards. “My teammates did a job of spreading out and moving the ball and finding me as well. When you have guys like AJ in the post, they really key on him. So we have to make it easier on them so they can’t double down. We have to stretch the floor.”"
Both Stephens and Edwards picked up where they left off Friday night, connecting on five three-point attempts in just the first 20 minutes of action. Stephens finished the game with six three-pointers and tallied 24 total points in 27 minutes.
Stephens was asked if the basket looked bigger today than normal:
"“Ya it did,” said Stephens. “Guys were finding me and I think Jon, Bryson and P.J. did a great job keeping their heads up and getting me the ball in the right spot. I was feeling pretty good tonight.”"
As a team, Purdue jumped out to a 15-2 start and looked like they would put away first-year head coach Jason Gardener’s squad. If it weren’t for their bench, IUPUI might have lost by 50.
Leo Svete and D.J. McCall combined for 25 of their team’s first 38 points and the bench as a whole scored 44 of the Jaguars’ 57 points. Both Svete and McCall led the Jaguars with 14 points apiece.
Matt Painter knew coming into the game that Svete would be a playmaker and credited their bench play:
"“Svete and McCall were really good,” said Painter. “We have to do a better job of being more consistent. Their bench was great. They had energy and kept them in the game in the first half.”"
It was more of the same in the second half as the Jaguars tried to hang around.
Although the Boilermaker lead didn’t go below eight, this ballgame should have been over much earlier.
For the second-straight game, free-throw shooting was an issue for Purdue, most notably their big men.
"“I thought we did some good things. It’s just demoralizing when you miss free throws,” said Painter. “We had that one stretch where we didn’t knock down any free throws. You address them with every team you coach. They are a staple of the game. Both guys are good free throw shooters but they struggled tonight.”"
IUPUI’s hot shooting carried them in the first half, but they shot below 30% in the final 20 minutes to seal their fate. Credit the Purdue defense as well as they forced 21 turnovers and a couple shot-clock violations out of their zone defense.
Issac Haas, A.J. Hammons and Jon Octeus each added six points for the Boilers, who shot 50% from the floor. Hammons also blocked four shots.
Purdue improves to 2-0 on the young season and will face Grambling State Thursday evening.
Thoughts: Purdue faced a little adversity Sunday afternoon and responded well. Coach Painter was pleased with the way his team played despite the free-throw shooting situation. As the season progresses, they will need to shoot better from the charity stripe and cut down on the turnovers.
I’m pretty impressed through the first couple of games with how Jon Octeus has gelled with this team in a brand-new environment. Octeus had six points but more importantly had four assists to just one turnover.
We will also see how the zone works against better competition in Maui over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Baby steps, but this team is headed in the right direction.
Next Game: 11/20 vs. Grambling State in West Lafayette.