Written by Ernie Casanova
HARTFORD, CT– In the last matchup of tonight’s first-round opener here at the XL Center, Purdue and Old Dominion had a lot to live up to considering the excitement of the previous three contests. Old Dominion looked to be the second lower-ranked team of the night to knock of their higher-seeded opponent, but Purdue isn’t your average joe of a squad.
The Boilermakers played tough defense all game as Old Dominion struggled to make shots early, but Purdue did little to create a gap on the scoreboard early on considering all of their second chances and opponent’s shooting struggles. Still, Purdue needed time against ODU to find their momentum and pull away at the right moment. They defeated Old Dominion by a score of 61-48 and advance to the second round to take on Villanova on Saturday.
Old Dominion won the tipoff, but that was the most action throughout the game in its first two minutes. Almost at the 18:00 mark, Purdue’s Matt Haarms splits a pair of free throws to give the game its first point with Carsen Edwards hitting a two-pointer quickly after. With Purdue now up 3-0, Old Dominion responded with a three-pointer from Ahmad Caver to tie it at 3-3. Grady Eifert responded for the Boilermakers with a three-pointer of his own. After a couple of buckets from Old Dominion gave them a 7-6 lead, it was the last time they had the advantage on the scoreboard for the rest of the half.
After early defensive prowess from Old Dominion, the Boilermakers found little wiggle room to make something work. A couple of minutes later Purdue would eventually go up 17-11, as Caver hit another three-pointer for the Monarchs quickly after that cut the deficit to 21-19. Purdue, better late than never, found their groove as the first half was ending and went on an 11-0 run to finish the period. Up 32-19, it was evident that at this point Purdue was already looking forward.
Purdue began the second half going on an 11-4 run in the first five minutes, notching a 20-point lead with almost an entire half left to play. The Monarchs struggled shooting from the floor, unable to capitalize on the slipped chances Purdue gave them. They were shooting under 25% in the game as the second half got underway, which makes it impossible for a team to win a game, let alone compete. Old Dominion went on their own 11-4 run, as the score was now 47-37 with 10:47 left in the game, but it wasn’t enough juice. It was still too much for the Monarchs as the Boilermakers kept contesting Old Dominion’s shots, answering back with converted buckets. Old Dominion went on a late run to cut their deficit into a single-digit one, but the Boilermakers put all of the late commotion to rest along with any thought of a comeback.
Purdue was ahead of Old Dominion in three-point field goal percentage and fast break points, which were two key components as to why Purdue ran off with the game for the remainder of the night. After a promising start for the Monarchs, the Boilermakers shouldn’t be too comfortable with tonight’s victory. It was a struggle early on to pull away and if they have this same trouble on Saturday, Villanova might make quick work of the Boilermakers. For Purdue, Edwards led the pack with 26 points on an incredible 7-12 shooting to go with seven assists and four rebounds. Haarms sat behind him with 13 points and four rebounds.
For Old Dominion, Caver led the way with 17 points and four rebounds, with B.J Stith adding a double-double consisting of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Purdue will now return to Downtown Hartford on Saturday evening to take on defending National Champions Villanova Wildcats.
(Image Credit: Trevor Mahlmann / The SkyBoat)
