Swanigan leads Purdue past McNeese State in opener
By KEITH CARRELL (@BoilerColts)
ISL Purdue Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Caleb Swanigan scored 23 points and corralled 20 rebounds to help Purdue pull away from McNeese State with a 109-65 victory in the regular season opener Friday night. Swanigan is the first player to reach the 20-20 threshold in a game for the Boilermakers since William Franklin in 1972 and he is the 16th to earn the feat in school history. Vincent Edwards also chipped in a double-double of his own with 19 points and eleven rebounds.
“(Swanigan’s) ability to pursue every rebound and to play harder than everybody else on the court really got us going,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
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— Purdue Basketball (@BoilerBall) November 12, 2016
McNeese State, led by James Harvey’s nine points in the opening nine minutes, came out swinging against Purdue scoring the game’s first points and led the Boilermakers for the first three minutes of the game until Edwards entered the lane for a running shot that bounced off of the rim before falling in to give Purdue a 6-5 lead. The Cowboys from Louisiana held true to their name by unleashing the Gerald Green offense (shoot a quick two in transition or chuck a jump shot) on Purdue, which was effective for the first eleven minutes of the opening half in a back and forth battle before Edwards dealt a short jumper of his own to knot the game at 22. Over the final eight minutes of the first half, Purdue reeled of a 14-0 run to extend the lead to 36-22 and never looked back. The Boilers went into the half leading the Cowboys 47-32.
Check out the highlights from tonight’s 109-65 win over McNeese State. #BoilerUp https://t.co/gd9r9wMA4v
— Purdue Basketball (@BoilerBall) November 12, 2016
Edwards said Purdue has to get out to a better start than it did against McNeese State on Friday.
“You have (Villanova) the defending national champions coming in and if a team like that gets up 10, 15… it just makes it harder to come back (and) we can’t dig ourselves a hole.”
Aside from Swanigan, who was locked in from the tip, the Boilers began the game a little shaky on offense, committing five turnovers in the first ten minutes, mostly unforced, which helped contribute to McNeese State staying in the game as long as they did. In the succeeding ten minutes, Purdue committed only one turnover and only two more in the first 13 minutes of the second half, a stretch that saw Purdue turn a five point deficit into a 40-point advantage.
With Purdue only having seven scholarship players active for the game, Painter had a short bench to work with, but one that was effective. Graduate transfer Spike Albrecht and true freshman Carsen Edwards both entered the game five minutes into the first half and made their presence felt. While Albrecht was the only Boilermaker to commit a foul in the first 15 minutes of action, he also was a game changer on offense. With Purdue trailing early, Albrecht took the ball up the court with some behind the back, shake and bake, dribbling that left a couple of Cowboys in his wake en route to an assisted Swanigan dunk. On the subsequent offensive possession, Albrecht sank a transition three to tie the game at 13 just before the second media timeout. C. Edwards did most of his damage in the second half that displayed his offensive prowess with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists in stylistic fashion, highlighted by his baseline drive at the 11:44 mark where he put some English on the ball with an up and under reverse to give the Boilers a 74-48 lead. C. Edwards also had a couple of nice defensive stands forcing McNeese State’s Jamaya Burr to pick up his dribble in no man’s land corner twice in the second half, one forced a timeout to be requested, and he tallied two steals on the night.
After the game, Edwards had some glowing remarks for his teammates, especially fellow-captain Swanigan and newcomer Carsen Edwards.
“Guys are being aggressive and playing within the system… (Swanigan) did a really good job of sparking us in the first half.” Edwards continued, “Carsen is great for us. He gets so quick and fast with that ball. He had an amazing finish tonight and I still don’t know how he finished it, he jumped from the other side of the block and got up to the rim for a reverse layup.” Edwards concluded with some humor in reference to Carsen Edwards, “He’s going to be a big key piece, whether he wants to be or not.”
Quick Hits:
This was the first meeting between Purdue and McNeese State… Swanigan’s 23-20 double-double was not only the first 20-20 game since 1972, it was the most rebounds for Purdue player in a game since A.J. Hammons had 16 on Dec. 31, 2013 against Ohio State… The 20 rebounds fell one shy of a school record for a season opener (George Faerber had 21 in 1969 against Tulsa) and 8 of Swanigan’s boards came on the offensive end of the court… Although Swanigan had an aggressive night, it was also an unselfish night as he distributed the ball well, handing out 6 assists… The victory advanced Painter’s season opener record to 11-1 at Purdue… Purdue had four players with at least 15 points (Swanigan-23, Isaac Haas-22, V. Edwards-19, C. Edwards-18), the first time since facing Minnesota in 2010 – Dakota Mathias was also in double figures with 13 points… Purdue surpassed the century mark in a season opener for the first time since 1998 when the Boilers hung 101 points on UNC Asheville… Purdue was much more active on the glass Friday night than in their exhibition contest as they outrebounded the Cowboys 59-28… It was definitely Purdue’s night, because even though they missed two breakaway dunks, the Boilers got the offensive rebound on both misses… McNeese State had three players in double figures with Burr and Harvey each earning 15 and Kalob Ledoux netted 16 points… Purdue was again without the services of Basil Smotherman (his last of a 3-game suspension), Ryan Cline (his 3rd of a 6 game suspension), and Jacquil Taylor (injured, out indefinitely after having surgery to repair a stress fracture in his ankle earlier in the week – likely out until February at the earliest)… The game began with a new stadium experience where the fans had the opportunity to download the Boiler Lights app onto their phones that synchronized flashes of light with pregame festivities… Purdue next hosts defending national champion Villanova Monday night as part of the Gavitt Games, the Wildcats defeated Lafayette Friday night 88-48.
Here is the link to Jeff Washburn’s AP Story.
