WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – Purdue opened up their home slate with a dominating 93-50 win over Oakland. The win could be awarded in large part to the 17 triples that the Boilers drained in the game.
The Boilermakers won the tip and got right to work as Trevion Williams put in a quick jumper off the assist from Sasha Stefanovic. Brandon Newman followed that with a triple for Purdue, as they jumped out to an early 5-0 lead.
Shortly thereafter, Aaron Wheeler committed the first foul of the game, sending Daniel Oladapo to the line for an and-one for Oakland, which was not converted. Then Zion Young followed up a failed Boiler possession with a layup to make it a one-point game.
Purdue then answered with back-to-back triples, with Newman draining his second and Stefanoniv sinking his first of the game.
As we reached the under 16-minute media timeout, Purdue led the Golden Grizzlies 11-8. The Boilers had connected on three of five from three-point land, with both teams shooting 50% overall from the field.
Purdue started to get in foul trouble early. With 13:21 left to play in the first half, they had already tallied five team fouls, with center Zach Edey having two in under 60 seconds, sending him to the bench.
With 11:36 left in the half, we reached the under 12-minute media timeout, and Oakland had edged out in front of the Boilers 14-13. This was in large part to the fouls and five early turnovers by Purdue that led to eight points for Oakland.
Out of the media timeout, the Boilers had a defensive stop, and Stefanovic drained a triple. The Golden Grizzlies answered though, as Young sank a triple at the other end to give Oakland the lead at 17-16.
Stefanovic drained another triple, and Boiler guard Isaiah Thompson got in on the action with a triple of his own to nab his first basket of the game. Then after a turnover from Young of Oakland, Stefanovic drained yet another triple to make it 25-17, and the rout was on. It was as if the lack of fans in the stands had hurt the Boilers’ usually heavy home-court advantage.
“It was definitely different, it felt like a scrimmage early. But it’s definitely a high-level game once you get going.”, said Stefanovic of the lack of fans being in the stands at Mackey Arena.
After a triple from Yusuf Jihad of Oakland cut the deficit to 20-28, Purdue continued to press on. Edey snagged an offensive rebound and slammed it in for a quick dunk. Then Newman added a triple, and Wheeler added a second-chance layup to make it 35-20, leading Oakland head coach, Greg Kampe, to take a timeout.
This led the Golden Grizzlies to some short-lived success out of the break. Trey Townsend drained two free-throws, and Jalen Moore answered that with a steal for Oakland, which led to an Oladapo layup, as the score sat at 35-24 with 5:40 left in the half.
Then, almost as if the Boilers were just catching their breath, they were back on the gas pedal. Williams put in a turnaround jumper, and then a Wheeler steal was turned into a Stefanovic triple, making it 40-24 as we reached the under four-minute media timeout.
With under a minute left in the half, Ethan Morton drained a triple to put the boilers lead over 20 for the first time in the game. As the two squads headed to the locker room for the half, Purdue held a 49-27 lead over Oakland.
Purdue was shooting 10 of 18 from three-point land and 56% from the field. The Boilers were dominating most of the stat line, with 16 assists to just seven for Oakland, rebounds with 20, compared to 12, and in bench points with seven, compared to just three for Oakland.
Purdue continued where they left off as the second half got underway. After a missed triple from Oakland’s Young, Isaiah Thompson delivered on an assist to Williams, who put in the fast break layup. Then Wheeler added a triple, leading to a quick timeout from Oaklands Greg Kampe, just 1:07 into the 2nd, with Purdue leading 54-27.
The first points of the second half for Oakland came at the free-throw line, as Moore drained two with 18 minutes left to play.
Edey would come back in at center for Purdue with 16:59 left to play, after seeing just four minutes of action in the first half after picking up his two fouls. He would get in on the scoring putting in a layup off an assist from Stefanovic with 13:57 left to play.
Shortly thereafter, Newman drained his 4th triple, to start an 8-0 a quick burst from Purdue as they extended their lead to 32. As we reached the under 12 minute-media timeout with 11:06 left to play, the Boilers led Oakland 70-40.
“I just take what the defense gives me,” said Newman of his performance, leading the Boilers with 21 points. “I don’t really try to have pre-determined thoughts going in at the defense.”
The pace slowed after coming out of the timeout, with the final result all but sealed. Over the next five minutes, both teams would combine for only 10 points, with Purdue leading 76-44 with 5:42 left to play.
Down the stretch, the Boilers started to head back up from deep as Mason Gillis drained one. Then after a Joey Holifield layup for Oakland, Thompson drained his second triple to make it 82-46 with 3:23 left to play.
Boilermaker sophomore forward Matt Frost got in on the three-point action with a triple with 1:55 left to play, making it 89-46 Boilers. Then Jared Wulbrun sank one as well for extra measure to make it 92-46 with 48 seconds left to play. This tallied the boilers three-pointers at 17 for the game, three shy of tying their record.
As the final buzzer sounded, it was a 93-50 final, as the Boilers improved to 2-1 on the season, and dropping Oakland to 0-5 on the year.
Purdue Full Game Stat Leaders
Points – Brandon Newman (21)
Rebounds – Trevion Williams (14)
Assists – Sasha Stefanovic (7)
3-Pointers – Sasha Stefanovic (6)
Blocks – Trevion Williams (1)
Oakland Full Game Stat Leaders
Points – Jalen Moore (14)
Rebounds – Daniel Oladapo (8)
Assists – Jalen Moore (7)
3-Pointers – Zion Young & Yusuf Jihad & Jalen Moore (1)
Blocks – (0)
