Purdue rolls past Vanderbilt, finishes non-conference slate 12-1
By KEITH CARRELL
ISL Correspondent
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. _ Purdue finished out non-conference play with a 12-1 record Tuesday night by defeating Vanderbilt 68-55 one game after losing to Butler in the Crossroads Classic Saturday.
Mackey Arena was sold out and loud to cheer on the promising Purdue squad in their final game prior to Big Ten play, but as amped up as the crowd was, the Boilers weren’t early. Vanderbilt set the tone early and led for most of the first half. Purdue again struggled to take care of the basketball, which led to nine points off of seven turnovers in the first half and helped Vanderbilt take a 26-23 halftime lead.
Vanderbilt prevented Purdue from gaining desired post position in the first half as their posts stood their ground against Purdue’s bigs, forcing A.J. Hammons, Isaac Haas, and Caleb Swanigan to catch the ball a few feet further away from the basket than where they’re accustomed. Contributing to Vanderbilt’s success in limiting Purdue’s inside presence in the first half was Purdue’s inability to knock down a perimeter shot. The Boilermakers missed their first seven three-point attempts and ended the half making only one (Rapheal Davis) of ten tries.
Coach Matt Painter began the game with the same starting lineup he’s used most of the season, but Haas’ shooting slump paved the way for Hammons to enter the game early. Hammons and Vince Edwards provided sparks by each slamming home authoritative dunks back-to-back around the 11-minute mark. Their inspired play kept Purdue within striking distance until the rest of the team began to get locked in midway through the second half.
Here are the game highlights from the Big Ten Network:
Dakota Mathias’ attributed Purdue’s second half surge to Painter’s halftime speech, stating, “At halftime, coach Paint got on us a little bit, and I think our defensive intensity really picked up. We played with a sense of urgency.”
Hammons’ play in the first half earned him a start in the second and he continued to dominate the game, finishing with a near triple-double of 21 points (many of which were athletic dunks), ten rebounds, and seven blocked shots. The entire team chipped in one way or another in the second half and stole the momentum with a 10-0 run to take a 39-34 lead, one which it wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the game, with 8:53 remaining. Painter seemed pleased with the team’s effort in the second half where he mentioned that he “thought, we had guys in there doing what they’re supposed to do; playing hard, getting loose balls, getting rebounds, but we couldn’t make a shot.” Aiding the Purdue run were Vanderbilt’s Damian Jones and Josh Henderson who both got into foul trouble and exited the game prematurely by fouling out.
Although Purdue was able to garner its twelfth double-digit victory of the season, the last two games against Vanderbilt and Butler have exposed some flaws of the team that will need to be corrected prior to traveling to Wisconsin to open Big Ten play on Tuesday. The most glaring of those flaws are boxing out, turnovers, and consistent effort. That’s not to say this isn’t a good team, which it is, but if Purdue truly aims to be a great team and fulfill its Final Four desires, improvements must be made as the season progresses.
Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings is a former Purdue player who served as an assistant coach under Gene Keady. During the pre-game introductions, the crowd in Mackey Arena gave him such a warm welcome that he made a point to mention it in the post-game press conference where he quipped, “I’d like to thank the fans. Gosh, that was a better ovation than when I played. I really appreciated that.”
Quick Hits:
Purdue struggled the entire game from long range, going 2-for-19, with only Davis and Ryan Cline each making one. … 7-1 Vanderbilt power forward Luke Kornet has a torn MCL and was unable to play… More than a dozen NBA scouts were in attendance to get a look at bigs from both teams (namely Hammons and Jones)… The sellout crowd was the first one for Purdue in a pre-Christmas game since December 2010… The win avenged last season’s 81-71 shellacking at Vanderbilt.
Unfortunately the Butler and Vanderbilt games are exposing what was commonly thought to be Purdue’s Achilles heel before the season started, and that’s ball-handling. That will have to be shored up to knock off the Michigan States, Marylands, and other top Big Ten teams.