Iowa upsets Purdue in Boilermakers’ Big Ten home opener
By KEITH CARRELL
ISL Correspondent
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. _ Iowa overcame a 17-point halftime deficit to defeat Purdue 70-63 Saturday night in the Boilermakers’ Big Ten home opener.
Rapheal Davis put the loss on his shoulders, stating that “When you see your teammates get frazzled, it comes down to senior leadership,” and that he “didn’t play that well today… today I let my team down.”
In a game where legendary Purdue shooter Rick Mount, was honored at halftime in front of a sold out Mackey arena, the Boilermakers began the game cold, missing their first six shot attempts until Vince Edwards nailed a three. But it wasn’t until Kendall Stephens drove his defender off the dribble from the wing to make an easy layup and tie the game 13-13 that Purdue really started to get going offensively.
The Boilermakers caught fire midway through the first half which featured a 26-5 run fueled by multiple threes by Stephens, Dakota Mathias, and Ryan Cline. Purdue’s defense, especially that of Mathias, was impressive in the first half that held Iowa to only 20 points, 16 of which came from Jarrod Uthoff.
In the second half, Iowa flipped the script and suffocated Purdue on offense, giving up only 26 points. Iowa presented the Boilers with a full court press which befuddled Purdue the entire half and could never break it, even with the newfound lineup of P.J. Thompson-Cline-Mathias that appeared to have the chemistry to break it in prior outings.
When Purdue was able to get it across the timeline without turning it over, Iowa’s half-court defense also caused issues which resulted in a total of ten turnovers in the second half, which directly led to 18 points for the Hawkeyes in the half. Exacerbating the issue for Purdue were the lack of timeouts taken and fouls committed. Purdue used its final timeout (the official gave Purdue a timeout which was not called by a player, which is not allowed during live action this year) with just under ten minutes remaining in the half. Purdue also had only committed two fouls in the second half with three minutes remaining, making it a challenge to use a fouling strategy as they did against Butler to try to get back into the game.
The first half of the game showed marked improvement from Purdue, especially Mathias and Stephens. Mathias had a terrific run on defense, netting five rebounds and a steal to go along with his three treys, but the biggest improvement was with how he played foul-free defense with his feet, rather than his hands. Stephens’ biggest improvement was on the offensive end, where he had two shots where he took his defender off the dribble for a better look, one a pull up jumper and the other a layup; Stephens led the team with ten points in only nine minutes of action at the break.
While Uthoff was Iowa’s offense in the first half, only getting two points each from starters Adam Woodbury and Peter Jok, he got quite a bit of help in the second stanza. Seven Hawkeyes scored in the second half, six each had at least six points. The big second half for Iowa allowed them to begin Big Ten play 2-0 defeating two of the projected top three teams in Michigan State and Purdue.
Purdue’s Thompson noted Iowa took the win and gave “credit to Iowa for sticking with it when they were down 17 at the half.”
Purdue coach Matt Painter echoed his concerns of inconsistent play throughout a game from earlier in the season during the post-game press conference where he mentioned that the team has “to be able to not play in spurts, learn to be consistent, learn to have discipline.” He continued that “it’s a hard thing to do, but (you have to) play the same way whether you’re making or missing shots… when we don’t we struggle.”
Purdue honored Mount at halftime and also had a limited quantity Mount bobblehead giveaway prior to the game (all 2,000 were given away in less than five minutes of the gates opening) as well as throwback shooter shirts with a script Purdue across the front and number 10 on the back worn during warmups. During halftime Mount was introduced to an extended ovation from the crowd in Mackey and received a commemorative game ball from athletic director Morgan Burke. Here is video of his halftime speech, courtesy of Purdue athletics:
Check out Rick Mount’s speech at halftime to the Mackey Arena crowd. #BoilerUp #Purdue https://t.co/zp2Qfrms4P
— Purdue Basketball (@BoilerBall) January 3, 2016
Mount has had a frail relationship with the school over the years and had not been on campus in over 25 years. He made it a point in his speech multiple times to reference the fans, illustrating they’re the reason he returned for the ceremony.
Quick Hits:
Purdue’s bench outscored Iowa 26-0 in the first half and 39-13 for the game… Iowa was held to 20 points in the first half, going 7-30 from the field and 1-10 from three, but earned 50 in the second half, going 18-28 from the field and 6-9 from three… Purdue in the first half went 15-33 from the field and 7-14 from three in the first half, but made only 8-26 including 1-11 from three in the second…Turnovers are becoming an issue for Purdue who had 14 against Iowa after coughing the ball up 16 times at Wisconsin earlier in the week… The loss ended Purdue’s 6th longest home winning streak (15) dating back to last season… In Painter’s eleven seasons, Purdue has begun Big Ten play 2-0 only three times (2010-11, 11-12, and 14-15)…Rick Mount was the first high school athlete to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
