Purdue 82, Rutgers 51: 10th Straight Win

Carsen Edwards put on a show in the first half and the Purdue Boilermakers rolled to move to 3-0 in B10 play by beating Rutgers 82-51 in Mackey Arena.

Carsen Edwards started the show, but Vincent Edwards, playing through foul trouble, had the final number when he threw down a monster tomahawk dunk in the second half after a brief run by Rutgers brought the game back to 14 points.

Carsen’s hot start fizzled in the second half. He missed all four of his second half shots, and finished 4 of 13 from the field. But the sophomore continues to show improvement in the other areas of his game. He had five rebounds and four assists to just two turnovers. His 12 point performance breaks a four game streak of scoring at least 18 points in a game.

Isaac Haas, playing a career-high 29 minutes, led the Boilers with 14 points. He was 4 of 5 from the field and knocked down 6 of his 8 free throws.

Vincent Edwards got into foul trouble early and that meant more time for the twin towers to share the floor together. Matt Haarms played more than 20 minutes for the fourth straight game of the season and continues to protect the rim. He had 3 blocks to go with four points and six rebounds. He struggled from the line, missing both his free throw attempts.

Vincent Edwards played just 20 minutes and had one of his quieter stat lines of the year with just 10 points and 3 rebounds. Dakota Mathias found his stroke from deep again after struggling most of December. He knocked down 3 of his 6 three-point attempts and had 13 points on the day. His defense was impressive throughout, accounting for two steals and a block.

But Ryan Cline might be wrestling the best shooter moniker away from Mathias. He continues his hot shooting into the new year. He knocked down 4 of his 6 three-point attempts for 12 points and grabbed six boards.

The Boilermakers struggled to start the second half, but they dominated the game from start to finish. They were monsters on the glass despite their best rebounder sitting the bench with foul trouble. They outrebounded the Scarlet Knights 45-27. They also shot the ball well from deep. Purdue went 10 of 23 from the perimeter despite going up against a Rutgers defense that was allowing the fewest points per game in the Big Ten.

The Scarlet Knights couldn’t find the twine all night. Corey Sanders was held in check, going 4 of 14 from the field and only scoring 8 points. Geo Baker led Rutgers with 11 points, but it took him 12 shots to get there. As a team, Purdue held Rutgers to 20 of 60 shooting from the floor and 2 of 13 from the floor.

Purdue’s freshman Nojel Eastern came on nice in the second half after struggling in the first half. The true freshman has struggled with turnovers on the year, and had a really ugly one in the first half where he sailed a pass way over the head of Ryan Cline, but in the second half had a beautiful put-back on a rebound where he grabbed it on the run and flicked it in over his head. He had 6 points and, more importantly, knocked down both of his free throw attempts.

Purdue is now 3-0 in the B10 and will play host to Nebraska on Saturday at 2:15 pm. Purdue has won 10 games in a row and are one of the hottest teams in the nation.