Purdue Unable To Finish Comeback Vs. K-State

The Purdue Boilermakers were unable to come back against the Kansas State Wildcats in the Maui Invitational.

Maui, HI – Matt Painter’s Purdue Boilermakers basketball team faced a very tough opponent in the Kansas State Wildcats this afternoon at the Maui Invitational tournament, and were unable to overcome some untimely turnovers. They made a furious comeback in the second half and nearly come all the way back on multiple occasions, but simply were not able to tie the game and ended up losing 88-79.

Untimely turnovers were part of Purdue’s biggest issues, and the Wildcats made very difficult baskets as well. Despite the loss, there were lots of positives to be seen in this game for the Boilermakers.

A.J. Hammons picked up two quick fouls to start the game, which forced freshman big man Isaac Haas into the game. He ended up coming through with a huge performance for Purdue, scoring 19 points on 7-9 shooting, and also grabbing six rebounds. Hammons ended up scoring just six points to go along with two rebounds.

Kendall Stephens was another bright spot for Purdue, scoring 21 points and knocking down 5-12 from behind the three-point arc. Jon Octeus was the only other double digit scorer for the Boilermakers with 12 points. Purdue turned the basketball over 13 times in the game, and most of them came during a couple of big runs that Kansas State went on throughout the game.

Vince Edwards was unable to get anything going for Purdue, and only scored four points in the game. He was Purdue’s leading scorer coming into the game.

Shooting guard Marcus Foster came up with a huge performance for Kansas State, scoring 24 points on 9-14 shooting and 5-8 from behind the three-point arc. Stephen Hurt came off the bench to score 11 points on the afternoon, while both Nino Williams and Wesley Iwundu scored 10 points each.

Purdue fell to 3-1 with the loss, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad game. They saw some positive signs and they also played in a game that gave the young players good experience. There was no question that the younger players stepped up and played much better later in the game after they had gotten a chance to get used to the style of play that the Wildcats brought to the court.

This was a great learning experience for Purdue, and they will look to get back on the winning track on December 2nd against the NC State Wolfpack. That will be a tough game as well, but the Wildcats showed them what type of play to bring. Purdue left everything that they had on the court, and they have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about as the head back to West Lafayette.