Boilers roll past Rutgers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Let’s go ahead and say it: Purdue is playing its best basketball of the season.

This hot streak began with a 95-67 demolition of Ohio on Dec. 20 and has marched on to six wins in seven games with the latest triumph being a 89-54 wrecking of Rutgers on Tuesday at Mackey Arena. The only loss in that stretch was at Big Ten co-leader Michigan State. No shame in that.

The Boilermakers (11-7 overall, 4-2 Big Ten) will carry all of this mojo into Saturday’s Titanic showdown against Indiana at home. Think it will be loud? Purdue looks the part of an upper-division Big Ten team that is NCAA Tournament-worthy.

Before we skip ahead to Saturday and start dreaming of March, let’s revel in the glow of this win over the Scarlet Knights. Where to begin? How about the start of the second half, when the Boilermakers saw a 40-30 edge balloon to 32 points at 74-41 with just under eight minutes to play. And, amazingly, the chasm grew from there, reaching 40 points. Inside, outside, fast break, half court … Purdue scored any which way it wanted.

Four Boilermakers were in double-figures, led by – you guessed it – Carsen Edwards. Purdue didn’t need any heroics from its superstar, who tallied 36 points the last time out in an overtime win at Wisconsin. Against Rutgers, Edwards was a mere mortal, settling for 19 points as Purdue drained 14 3-pointers.

Sasha Stefanovic joined the scoring party, notching a career-high 14 points, Ryan Cline poured in 12 and freshman aircraft carrier Trevion Williams added to his growing fame with a career-high 16 points and 13 rebounds. The last three games, Williams has averaged 12.7 points and 12.0 rebounds.

Even celebrated end-of-the-bench walkon Tommy Luce got quality minutes to the delight of fans. Alas, he didn’t score. Still, Old Gold & Black zealots squealed with delight. It was one of those fun, red-hot games on a cold winter night.
#BoilerNotes

• Purdue improved to 11-6 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten with an 89-54 win over Rutgers … Purdue has won five of its last six games and is now 4-2 (or better) in Big Ten play for the fourth straight season.
• Purdue improved to 12-1 all-time against Rutgers and has won 10 straight games with the Scarlet Knights … the 10-game winning streak is the third-longest winning streak against a single opponent (Detroit, Valparaiso – 16; Rutgers – 10).
• Purdue committed just eight turnovers, the eighth straight game of posting 10 or fewer turnovers, the longest streak in school history … over the last eight games, Purdue is averaging just 8.3 turnovers per game, while boasting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.83 (121 / 66).
• Purdue improved to 5-1 this season when shooting over 48.0 percent from the field and is now 141-15 under Matt Painter when doing so.
• Purdue had six players with at least nine points.
• Purdue is now 136-5 under Matt Painter when holding foes to 59 or fewer points.
• Purdue’s bench scored 39 points, matching a season-high 39 points scored against Iowa … Purdue’s bench has scored at least 29 points in four of the last six games … tonight’s bench went 15 of 33 from the field and 4 of 10 from 3-point range, scoring 39 points, with 19 rebounds and four assists.
• Purdue posted its 42^nd 20-point win since the 2015-16 season, the third most nationally … Purdue’s 22, 30-point wins are the second most nationally since the same season.
• Purdue won its 10^th straight home game and is now 56-4 since the 2015-16 season at home … Purdue is 35-4 against Big Ten foes at home since the start of the 2014-15 season.
• Purdue made 14 3-pointers against Rutgers, tying a season high and marking the ninth time this year that the Boilermakers have made at least 10 3-pointers … over the last two games, Purdue is 25 of 53 (.472) from 3-point range.
• Purdue’s freshmen scored a season-high 39 points, surpassing the previous season high of 28 points vs. Robert Morris.
• Carsen Edwards scored 19 points with six assists, five rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots while going 5 of 10 from 3-point range … Edwards tied Chad Austin for sixth on the Purdue career 3-pointers made list (212) … Edwards has now scored in double-figures in 37 straight games, the eighth-longest streak in school history … Edwards has scored at least 19 points in 16 of 17 games this year.
• Trevion Williams recorded his second double-double in the last three games with 16 points, 13 rebounds, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot in just 22 minutes … over the last three games, Williams has 38 points, 36 rebounds, six assists, five steals and three blocked shots in 69 minutes (22.0 pts, 20.9 rebs, 3.5 asts per 40 minutes) … Williams is the first Purdue freshman in school history to grab at least 10 rebounds in three straight games.
• Sasha Stefanovic scored a career-high 14 points while making 4 of 5 3-point attempts … Stefanovic scored 13 points combined in his previous eight games combined.
• Ryan Cline scored 12 points with three assists and three rebounds … Cline moved into ninth place on Purdue’s career 3-pointers made list (181) … over the last three games, Cline is 12 of 23 (.522) from 3-point range, averaging 12.7 points and 2.7 assists per game.