Boilers Make Quick Work of Sun Devils in NYC

When you look at a final score like 97-64, you probably think that the victor was was dominant from start to finish...But that's not exactly true. Purdue had a lead early, but Haas and Biggie started this one as they started the L'Ville game: They turned the ball over, played soft around the basket and had a general look of malaise...something Purdue's frontcourt can't afford to do versus good teams.

EsPN's info graphic tells the story- this one was a joke with a few minutes left in the first half.

But with around 6:00 left in the first half, Purdue got hot; Carsen Edwards turned the pace up, Basil Smotherman looked like the Baseline Assassin that he used to be...and Vincent Edwards showed up again...in a big way.

He hit two or three three pointers in a two minute period, and the flood gates opened. Purdue's lead swelled from single digits to a margin in which they tripled the ASU point total...and that was kinda all she wrote. ASU stopped hitting shots, their press was ineffective as Mathias, Carsen Edwards and PJ Thompson handled the pressure with ease, and the hot-shooting, even-scoring Boilers treated the game in MSG like a business trip.

BS co-founder got to attend tonight's Boiler game a few blocks from the office...but sadly, he couldn't get close to the action.

Let's talk a bit about Vince(nt)'s big night, shall we? 16pts, 5 rebs, 3ast, and 2 steals isn't so bad, right? He came off of the bench for the second straight game, and went 4/5 from three. He looked quicker, looked smart, looked focused, and was the catalyst of Purdue's early onslaught.

Lots of Boilers got involved tonight on the offensive end- Six players had 12 or more points (V. Edwards, Haas, Cline, Smotherman, C. Edwards and Mathias), Biggie had 10 boards to go along with just six points (his streak of double-doubles ended, obviously) and his five turnovers (four of them in the opening minutes) might have been costly had ASU not had their head in their rectum for much of the game.

Lots of empty maroon circles...and solid gold circles on EsPN's shooting chart tonight following Purdue's game.

Don't get me wrong, The Forces of Good were opportunistic, played solid defense and made a ton of shots, but the Sun Devils struggled shooting the ball. 15.4% from three is lousy, but it's really bad when your opponent not only shoots more three pointers, but makes 40% more of them. And that was the story- Purdue once again flirted with 60% shooting from deep, shot even better (59.4%) from the floor, had 16 more rebounds and 15 more assists. It wasn't all roses though- Purdue turned the ball over 15 times; most of those coming in the first half.

The Big Drago started slow, as I said, but got into rhythm and became impossible for ASU to guard in limited minutes. He finished with 16pts and 7rebs. To add insult to injury for the undersized, overmatched ASU bigs, Haas inadvertently hit a Sun Devil PF in the nose/face twice. He was literally and figuratively getting his ass kicked; tough night.

Cline played significant minutes, and after he got hot, he was smokin' from deep. He finished with five 3 pointers...and it was obvious, once Purdue was up, he just kept running hard, looking for his shot, and never took his foot off of the pedal*.

Carsen Edwards started again, and displayed the quickness that is making him a fan favorite quickly. He didn't shoot great, but created problems for ASU by cutting deep into the defense and looking for his jumpshot (which he's known to do from time-to-time). 12rebs, 4rebs, 2ast...and too many TOs (3). His dagger three pointer at the end of the half was a bit of a back-breaker for ASU, it seemed.

Smotherman played a solid game; finished with 13pts, 3rebs and 2ast. Mathias played controled against ASU's soft pressure...finished with 12pts, 5rebs, and 3ast. PJ Thompson took advantage of ASU's overpursuit on defense; he finished with just 5pts, but added 7asts, 4rebs and just 1to.

This game felt like a trap coming in- a major conference foe, neutral court, and plenty of reason for our Boilers to not care. Instead, Matty and company were dialed in and left no doubt earlier this evening.

On Saturday, Cleveland State comes to Mackey before a week break...and Purdue's personal house of horrors: The Crossroads Classic, where Purdue acts as the event's patsy, year-in, year-out (0-5 for the history of the event). There is no question that the Good Guys are overdue for a victory in Indy...a 4-0 finish prior to Christmas and the B1G season would give Purdue a solid start (11-2) to the season.

*Credit our Twitter pal Emmie for the assist on this one.