Well, for those of you who put a lot of stock in exhibition wins and were lamenting how "close" the last one was, this should make you happy. Purdue score the first 11 points of the game and cruised to a 91-58 victory over Division II Wayne State. The Boilers had a 31 point lead at the half (46-15) and moved to 18-0 under Coach Painter in exhibition games.
The Boilers shot 56% from the field and 56% from the line. Err, not quite what we're looking for from the stripe, boys. Defense, rebounding....and free throws. Get thos things in order and a lot falls into place. I'm not worried about scoring, rotations, matchups, etc. I'm worried about those basics. This team has enough talent that if you get those (the items, one might argue, that you can "control") on the correct side of the ledger, you're going to win a lot of games.
The Boilers put it on cruise control in the second half, only outscoring the Wildcats by two (45-43) to put the game away.
From the ISL article linked above:
Senior Errick Peck led the Boilermakers with 16 points on 7-of-8 field goal attempts with six rebounds and five steals in just 19 minutes. Rapheal Davis added 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting with three steals and two rebounds. Bryson Scott and Terone Johnson each added 10 points, while Ronnie Johnson had nine points and six assists and Kendall Stephens added nine points on 3-of-5 three-point attempts.
Eight different players scored at least seven points for the Boilermakers and Jay Simpson led Purdue with seven rebounds.
Highlights are below:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=htT75G-nDK0
That completes the Boilermakers' exhibition schedule. The games begin to count for real this Friday as the good guys take on Northern Kentucky at 7 PM in Mackey.
