Purdue rolls over Grambling, 82-30
By Clinton Cole
Purdue moves to 3-0 before Maui trip
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN- A well-balanced team effort led Purdue to an 82-30 victory over the Grambling Tigers Thursday night at Mackey Arena.
Freshman Issac Haas led the way with 17 points and 6 rebounds off the bench in 24 minutes.
Haas is pleased with how things have gone in the first three games:
"“I’ve always been told it takes the big guys awhile to get into the flow in a game,” said Haas. “We are really doing a good job of making the extra pass. Of course, right now, we aren’t playing the best teams in the nation, but we will be here in a week.”"
For the second game in a row, a strong first half propelled the Purdue Boilermakers to victory against an over-matched opponent. Purdue jumped out to a 12-0 lead and turned 15 first-half Grambling turnovers into 21 points.
The visiting Tigers didn’t eclipse the 10-point mark until about 3:30 to play in the first half. Purdue finished the half with a 37-15 advantage. Those 15 points tied for the 11th fewest all-time in Purdue history. The Purdue defense also forced three first half shot-clock violations. The 30 total points set an all-time record for fewest points given up in Purdue history.
Purdue assisted 11 times on 14 buckets in the first half, led by Basil Smotherman’s career-high of four. Smotherman finished the game with five helpers.
Smotherman is impressed so far with the way his team is playing:
"“I feel like we are still trying to put a few things together,” said Smotherman. “We’re just coming along as a team right now and making big strides. We’re going all out and playing Purdue basketball to get back to the old way. This is a ‘we’ team not an ‘I’ team.”"
Maybe the Tigers from the SWAC would make a few halftime adjustments and make the second half entertaining?
No such luck.
Purdue jumped out to a 30-point lead by the under-12 timeout and it was all she wrote.
This game would have been even more one-sided if not for the abundance of Purdue turnovers.
Coach Matt Painter was asked where he thinks his team is before they take on tougher competition in Maui:
"“I thought today it allowed us to work on our zone defense,” said Painter. “We’ve done it some but not quite like we wanted to. This game gave us an opportunity to do so. The most important thing while figuring your team out is not only getting guys to play well together but more importantly, compete at a high level. The only way you find out is when you play these tournaments. Hopefully the guys that were with us can learn from last year and be prepared this time around.”"
Dakota Mathias and Rapheal Davis each added nine points for the Boilermakers, who travel to Maui to face Kansas State on Monday.
Grambling was led by A’Torri Shine who scored 11 points in the 52-point defeat.
Thoughts: Purdue simply out-matched the Tigers from Grambling. With zero players over 6’9, you would think Purdue would dominate on the glass. Purdue only held a +3 rebounding advantage in the first half but ended the game with a 41-27 edge on the glass.
The Boilers only shot the ball at a 49% clip.
Purdue has to do a better job rebounding and taking care of the ball in the first half if they are to beat Kansas State and give Arizona a run for their money in a potential matchup in Maui.
Winning two games in Maui and giving Arizona all they can handle would be a great sign for Purdue fans.