Purdue honors Keady’s presence by rolling Penn State
By KEITH CARRELL
@BoilerColts
ISL Purdue Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In a tribute to Purdue coaching legend, Gene Keady, the Boilermakers combed over the Penn State Nittany Lions 77-52 Saturday afternoon.
Keady was honored with a bobble head giveaway prior to the game and spoke briefly at halftime. Keady strutted out from the tunnel and to center court donning his signature line “Play Hard” polo and ball cap, before he raised the microphone to his mouth and shared that he’s “always been proud to be a part of the Purdue basketball family” and raised his cap in a hat tip of appreciation as the fans cheered and applauded.
Always great to have Gene Keady in Mackey Arena! #BoilerUp 🚂⬆️ pic.twitter.com/c76ByrjfaG
— Purdue Athletics (@PurdueSports) January 21, 2017
Lamar Stevens scored the first two points for Penn State on the game’s first possession, but it would be the last for a while as Dakota Mathias sank a three on the ensuing possession to kick start a 15-0 run for Purdue. The offense went through Mathias and Vincent Edwards early with a terrific balance of inside-out play and scoring; of Purdue’s first seven makes, four were inside and three were long range. As Purdue coach Matt Painter preaches, though, college basketball is a game of runs and the first half was no different. Shortly after Pat Chambers, Penn State’s Head Coach, called a timeout to cool the Boilers’ steam, the Nittany Lions reeled off a 13-5 run of their own.
Purdue forward Caleb Swanigan said the fast start was important.
“It means a lot, but it meant more on the defensive end,” he said. “The way we were stopping them early so they couldn’t get in a rhythm; that was really big for us.”
Penn State managed to shrink the lead down to as few as four, 24-20, twelve and a half minutes into the game, before Purdue locked in again and scored 13 consecutive points to blow the game open and secure the victory for the Boilers. Penn State wouldn’t score again until two minutes remained in the half when Davis Zemgulis sank a three, but when the dust settled, Purdue went into the break with a comfortable 41-23 advantage.
ICYMI: Caleb Swanigan had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and @BoilerBall beat Penn State, 77-52 on Saturday. https://t.co/swquD7FxxE
— Purdue On BTN (@PurdueOnBTN) January 22, 2017
The second half began with a bit of back-and-forth scoring before Chambers called another quick timeout, seemingly unhappy with the defense the Nittany Lions had deployed. Out of the huddle, Penn State began using a full court press to attempt to knock Purdue off balance, hoping for some magic that opponents were able to muster the prior season against the Boilers, and while the first possession resulted in a Purdue turnover, it had little to no impact on Purdue’s pace or scoring. The Boilermakers even managed to sink a few quick bunnies due to poor spacing on the press. What Penn State was able to manage by utilizing the press, though, was an increased intensity in their defense in general, nearly as soon as they began pressuring. Again, it didn’t seem to affect the box score much, but Purdue was forced to work much harder to score.
Purdue’s newfound defensive prowess also appeared to carry over from the prior contest, with many possessions resulting in a helping and help the helper defense. The focus on defense resulted in forcing one of the fastest offenses in the nation to commit not one, but two shot clock violations and also held all but one Nittany Lion below double-figure scoring, Josh Reaves netted twelve points. One wrinkle that was added into the fold was having the helper attack the ball more, which resulted in a couple of jump balls and a few batted balls to go along with Purdue’s six steals. It took some time for Purdue to adjust to life after A.J. Hammons and Rapheal Davis, but if they continue to string games like this together, they may just have figured out who they are and what they can be on defense.
“I thought we were better today” Painter said “I thought our ball screen defense was a lot better and (we) just try to keep the ball out of the middle of the floor and out of the paint. Hopefully we can keep building on this.”
On offense, Purdue continued its trend of sharing the ball to the tune of 23 assists on 30 made field goals. The Boilers also were a little too happy to share the ball with Penn State as well, coughing the ball up 16 times. The most memorable of the turnovers came with just over three minutes remaining in the first half after Swanigan grabbed a defensive rebound. Terrence Samuel jumped the passing lane when Swanigan attempted to advance the ball, but when Samuel went up for what he likely felt would be an easy bucket, Swanigan turned, jumped, and swatted the shot against the backboard; P.J. Thompson gained control of the rebound, sent the ball back up to Swanigan who found Carsen Edwards open for an easy layup.
With the win, Purdue advanced to 16-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play, staying near the top of the Big Ten. Up next, though, the Boilers face a stiff test in their schedule as four of the next five contests are on the road: at Michigan State, at Nebraska, home against Northwestern, at Maryland, and at Indiana.
“Last time we were on the road, I didn’t think we had a very good defensive focus,” he said. “For us, going into a hostile environment on Tuesday, we’ll just have to show poise, play hard, and play smart.”
In a seeming nod to Keady, V. Edwards echoed a similar tone.
“Our goal and our focus is to win the Big Ten… Our approach and our focus is to just come in and play hard and just try to keep our goal in mind.”
The results of those five contests, each against a team currently in the upper half of conference standings, will likely tell the tale of where Purdue will finish in the Big Ten and have a large bearing on seeding for the NCAA Tournament. If this season’s Purdue Boilermakers truly want to make any noise, this will be the time to play hard.
Quick Hits:
Penn State entered the game last in the Big Ten in field goal percentage and continued that trend converting only 31% of their field goals and 38% of their three point attempts… Purdue regressed at the free throw line, making only nine of their 15 attempts… Swanigan racked up another double-double with 19 points and twelve boards… At halftime, Purdue had 41 points, but no single player was in double figures; Swanigan and C. Edwards each had nine points while Mathias and V. Edwards each had eight to lead the way… Spike Albrecht saw a trey go through the nets for the first time since November 14th against Villanova… It was the first time since 1998 that Purdue had back to back 20 point victories in league play… Purdue is now 10-0 when C. Edwards scores in double figures, he scored 13 against Penn State.
