Swanigan sets record as Purdue rolls Northwestern 80-59
By KEITH CARRELL
@BoilerColts
ISL Purdue Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Caleb Swanigan set a school record, Vincent Edwards set a personal best, and Purdue overcame early game jitters to beat Northwestern, 80-59 on Wednesday night and secure a Top 25 win.
Swanigan scored 24 points and snared 16 rebounds for his 19th double-double of the season, the most ever for a Boilermaker. Edwards missed his first three 3-pointers, but sank his last five to tie a personal best for a game.
ICYMI: @BoilerBall was hot from the field, and Biggie did his thing in a win over No. 25 Northwestern tonight. https://t.co/z80TVSiUfq
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 2, 2017
Coming off of a disappointing loss at Nebraska, a wake-up call performance would have seemed in order to begin the match against a ranked Northwestern team at home, but the Purdue squad collectively hit the snooze button. Swanigan struggled dealing with double teams early and coughed the ball up three times in the first two minutes before grabbing the pine for a quick rest to regroup and settle down. Largely due to those turnovers, the Boilers did not score until nearly three minutes had passed and Dakota Mathias finally found the bottom of the net on a long two. Northwestern, without leading scorer Scottie Lindsey, didn’t capitalize on Purdue’s early struggles and only managed to four points in that span.
Purdue took its first lead, 7-6, when P.J. Thompson finally answered the wakeup call and sank a triple with 15:16 left in the first half, an omen of things to come for Purdue. The lead would change hands a couple of times over the next few minutes of action before Mathias again was a calming force, effortlessly nailing another three for Purdue to give the Boilers a two point lead; a lead the Boilermakers would not relinquish the rest of the way.
As poorly as Purdue began the game, the rest of the first half was a clinic for 3-point shooting. Behind threes from Edwards, Swanigan, and Mathias, Purdue blew the game open and quickly extended the lead to 32-16 with six minutes to go in the first. In the only way the half could end Spike Albrecht found Ryan Cline open for a three to give the Boilers a 45-23 advantage at the break.
Making threes early “opens everything up,” Edwards stated, “because then defensively you get guys that start to overdo it” by worrying more about the long ball and allowing more lanes and opportunities inside.
Purdue’s offense against Northwestern was very reminiscent of the Colts of yesteryear when Peyton Manning would air it out to give the Colts an insurmountable lead and then allow Edgerrin James to ice the game away on the ground. Just as those Colts teams would air it out and then go back to basics, Purdue racked up points behind Purdue’s sharpshooters, but iced the game by going back to their bread and butter of Swanigan and Isaac Haas in the second half. The duo combined for 18 points, ten boards, a block, and an assist in the first fourteen minutes of the closing stanza, giving Purdue a 69-47 lead.
With a comfortable lead, Purdue coach Matt Painter called off the dogs and began playing a keep away, prevent offense that rarely nets many points for Purdue. Northwestern jumped on that opportunity over the next two minutes by putting together an 8-0 run, capped off by a Bryant McIntosh three, to close the gap to 14. In elation, Northwestern coach Chris Collins earned a technical foul that sent the game into its final media timeout. When action resumed, Mathias sank both freebies and Carsen Edwards sealed the victory with a three on the ensuing possession.
“You hope you don’t have to get to that point always, to be that way (where you have to lose to get an edge) and that you can grow and mature as a group to where you can try to stay on edge, especially (while winning). Losing puts you back on edge, losing makes you realize that there’s slippage,” Painter said. “That says, as a coach, I’ve got to do a better job of not letting that slippage happen.”
Purdue cannot allow for time to slip away moving forward. Next up for the Boilers is a pair of road games at Maryland and Indiana before returning home to face Rutgers. Having lost three games already, Purdue may need to win their remaining eight games and get help from other teams to have a shot at the Big Ten crown. Maryland and Wisconsin are the only two squads currently ahead of Purdue in the standings with one loss each and Purdue’s next game is the only one remaining against either of the league leaders.
Caleb. Swanigan. 💪💪
He notched his 19th double-double of the season, breaking the Purdue single-season record. pic.twitter.com/sogtEbu83z
— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) February 2, 2017
Prior to the game, the John Purdue Club hosted a Recruiting Roundup event in honor of college football’s National Signing Day, the day when recruits sign their official letters of intent and coaches are allowed to begin speaking directly about the future players. The event was one of the first opportunities for around 1,200 Purdue supporters to hear from the new coaching staff, led by Jeff Brohm.
Standing in the Mollenkopf Athletic Center at a podium adorning the university’s logo, Brohm addressed the capacity crowd.
“If our players see this type of crowd in the stands, they’re going to play for you,” he said.
Brohm then began describing his recruiting class of 24 signees for the 2017 class, including six who had already enrolled at Purdue and were at the event standing behind Brohm as he spoke. Behind undertones of family, passion, and handling business one day at a time, Brohm stated, “I feel like we got a great group of guys that are hungry and ready to prove their worth.”
Brohm’s brother Greg, Purdue’s new Administration and Operations, emceed the event and introduced each assistant coach, inserted as much fun as one possibly can at an event introducing a new staff and recruits with humorous clips and quips. The new staff has been in place for fewer than two months, yet a tone has been set. This staff is one of energy (highlighted by Receivers Coach JaMarcus Shephard), passion, and family. With an emphasis on family, nearly every assistant coach took time during their spiels to introduce the crowd to their wives and mention their family.
The new football staff appears to have found the pulse of the Purdue faithful and an understanding of what the last staff did well and where they failed. Where these events had been professional, somber affairs in the past under Darrell Hazell with Hazell dominating the conversation, Brohm was much more succinct and allowed his assistants to engage with the crowd and illustrate their goals, strengths, and direction.
For details and video on the incoming class, visit Purdue Sports’ Signing Day site:http://www.purduesports.com/signingday/.
Quick Hits:
Prior to the Nebraska game, Painter announced that Basil Smotherman was no longer with the Purdue basketball team… Four of V. Edwards’ five threes came in the first half… Northwestern’s leading scorer missed the game due to an illness, but their second leading scorer Vic Law was held without a field goal, missing all seven attempts… McIntosh did score 22 points, but did so on 19 attempts… There were a plethora of whistles in the game, combined 42 personal fouls were called resulting in 47 free throw attempts… Purdue shot better from long range (12-23) than from inside the arc (12-27)… The fouls put multiple players into foul trouble early with Northwestern’s Sanjay Lumpkin having three while Dererk Pardon and Barret Benson each had two by halftime, V. Edwards and Thompson each had two in the first half as well; by the end of the game, Lumpkin, Pardon, and Law each had four while Swanigan fouled out late and Thompson had four… Northwestern made only 2 of their 14 three point attempts and missed their first 10 tries… Purdue’s assist leaders (Cline – 6, Thompson – 3) in the game had no turnovers.
