No. 16-Ranked Purdue Continues Winning Streak with Rout of Tennessee State
#BoilerNotes
• Purdue improved to 12-2 on the season with a 97-48 win over Tennessee State … Purdue is now 12-2 (or better) for the third straight season and the fifth time overall (2009-10, 2010-11, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18) under head coach Matt Painter.
• Purdue’s 49-point victory was the 12th-largest victory margin in school history … the 32-point (48-16) halftime lead was also the 12th largest halftime lead in school history.
• Purdue’s eight-game winning streak is now the eighth-longest winning streak in the country.
• Purdue’s 15-game home winning streak is the sixth-longest winning streak in the country … of Purdue’s 15 straight home wins, 13 of them have come by double figures (Louisville, Northwestern).
• Purdue improved to 12-1 under Painter in the team’s final game before the Holiday break.
• Purdue blocked eight more shots to run its season total to 86 blocked shots … Purdue had 87 blocked shots all of last season.
• Purdue improved to 129-4 under Coach Painter when holding opponents to 59 or fewer points, having won 39 straight games.
• Purdue’s 15 3-pointers tied for the fifth most in a game in school history.
• Purdue shot 58.6 percent from the field and over the last three games are now shooting 92-of-166 (.554) from the field.
• Purdue has now won 90 straight games when scoring 90 or more points (last loss: Nov. 24, 1987, vs. Iowa State).
• Purdue has won 15 straight games during the month of December.
• Carsen Edwards scored 26 points, one off his career high, with four assists and three rebounds … he went 6-of-8 from 3-point range, raising his 3-point percentage this season by 45 percentage points (.319 to .364) … he surpassed 600 career points (in his 49th career game) in the victory … Purdue is now 25-4 during Edwards’ career when he scores 10 or more points.
• P.J. Thompson tallied 17 points, two points off his season high of 19 points vs. Western Kentucky … Thompson scored 16 of his points in the first half … Thompson was 3-of-3 from 3-point range and is now shooting 29-of-56 (.518) from deep this year … he added three assists against zero turnovers and has 10 turnovers this year in 400 minutes of action.
• Matt Haarms tallied a career-high 14 points with six rebounds and three blocked shots … he went 5-of-5 from the field and now has 41 blocked shots on the season.
• Dakota Mathias tied a career high with 10 assists, his second 10-assist game of his career … he is now 1-of-11 players in school history with at least two 10-assist games.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – No. 16 Purdue had Tennessee State right where it wanted the moment the Tigers set foot inside Mackey Arena.
The Boilermakers haven’t left the state of Indiana since Dec. 1, meanwhile Tennessee State was playing its fourth road game in 10 days.
Carsen Edwards scored 26 points, P.J. Thompson finished with 17 and Purdue cruised to its eighth straight win with a 97-48 victory.
Credit the lopsided victory to Purdue coach Matt Painter, who drawing from his own experience had a hunch the Tigers would be entering Thursday night’s game vulnerable and exhausted. Not only had the Tigers been traveling since Dec. 12, but they arrived in West Lafayette just three days after taking Texas to the wire in Austin, losing 47-46.
”This was the end of their road trip. They’ve been on a long road trip and I think it caught up with them,” Painter said. ”I think anytime you play the way they did the other day at Texas and (almost) win that game, that opens the eyes of our players. Anytime you play a game like that where the game could have went either way on the road against somebody as talented as Texas, it’s going to open the eyes of your next opponent and I think it surely did (for us).”
Tennessee State was hanging around early, trailing 16-11, when it was ambushed by Purdue (12-2). The Boilermakers outscored the Tigers 32-5 during the final 14 minutes of the first half, overwhelming a seemingly exhausted team with a balanced offensive attack.
Purdue outscored Tennessee State 20-0 in the paint and shot the basketball well from beyond the arc, making 6 of 15 3-point attempts in the first half. The Boilermakers shot 58 percent from beyond the 3-point line for the game (15 of 26).
”I thought we did a good job of trying to get the ball inside and just moving the basketball. I think we just have a good balance as a team,” Painter said. ”We had a good balance offensively. We did a good job of being efficient on the offensive end.”
Purdue led by as many as 34 points during the first half, where Tennessee State shot 25 percent (6 of 24) which included a nearly 7-minute span where the Tigers (5-6) didn’t make a field goal.
Delano Spencer led the Tigers with 13 points. Christian Mekowulu finished with 10 points for Tennessee State.
The Boilermakers continued their rout in the second half, leading by as many as 49 points.
Purdue finished the game shooting 59 percent (34 of 58) from the field with 25 of those field goals coming by way of an assist. The Boilermakers scored 36 points off 17 Tennessee State turnovers.
VERY OFFENSIVE
Purdue has had no problem scoring this season. Squared off against a mixture of Power 5 and mid-major opponents during their first 13 games, the Boilermakers have made offense look easy. Purdue’s lowest point total came in a 66-57 win over Louisville. Even in the Boilermakers’ two losses, they still scored 73 and 75 points. With Thursday night’s win, Purdue has scored 80 or more points in five of its last six games.
BIG PICTURE
The Boilermakers face just one more non-conference opponent before Big Ten Conference play resumes on Jan. 3 against Rutgers. The Boilermakers will end non-conference play with wins against Arizona, Louisville and Butler. Purdue’s non-conference resume is an impressive one. According to KenPom.com, the Boilermakers’ six wins against top 60 teams is the best in the nation.
UP NEXT
Tennessee State visits UT Martin on Dec. 28.
Purdue hosts Lipscomb on Dec. 30.