Purdue basketball closes non-conference by thumping Lipscomb

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A younger Vincent Edwards might have let his lack of shot-making frustrate him Saturday night.

A senior Vincent Edwards joked about it with Purdue teammate Dakota Mathias. 

"I was laughing because I told Dakota, 'I don't know what's going on. I can't make a layup. I can't do anything,' " Edwards said. 

So Edwards let those frustrations fuels his work on the glass. Then his shots started falling, and the No. 14 Boilermakers closed out the non-conference schedule with a 98-66 victory over Lipscomb at Mackey Arena on Saturday.

Vincent Edwards posted a season-high 23 points points and a career-high 15 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. 

"I just felt like I wasn't helping the team by missing layups or missing wide-open shots, so I was like, the least I can do is rebound," Edwards said. "Just try and attack the glass and rebound the ball. When you're going hard, somethings you don't even realize how many rebounds you have."

Edwards keyed a 49-29 rebounding edge over a Lipscomb team for which that is not a strength. Isaac Haas and Matt Haarms combined for 15 rebounds at the center spot.

Purdue will take a nine-game winning streak, and some momentum, into the resumption of Big Ten Conference play next week. As the Boilermakers continue defense of their conference title, rebounding is one remaining concern for coach Matt Painter.

"That's a pretty good night," Painter said after recounting that frontcourt production ont he boards. "You also know it can rear it's ugly head at times. We have to stay on that as a coaching staff and stay on that in the possession war."

Unlike much of Purdue's non-conference home schedule, Saturday's win could hold value down the line. Earlier this week Lipscomb was a top-30 RPI team. If they return to that designation, it becomes a "tier one" victory on the Boilermakers' NCAA Tournament resume.

Vincent Edwards' rebounding stabilized Purdue early, and his scoring led its eventual separation.

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Dakota Mathias, Vincent Edwards and Isaac Haas discuss their ninth straight victory. Nathan Baird/Journal & Courier

Vincent Edwards will need an impressive performance throughout Big Ten Conference play to reach his preseason goal of 10 rebounds per game.  The senior forward came in averaging 8.4 per game.

He Edwards boosted his chances against a Lipscomb team with few rotation options taller than 6-7.

Edwards grabbed 12 rebounds in the first half, leaving him only one shy of his previous career high. Five of those came on offense, helping Purdue to a 10-0 halftime edge on second-chance points.

Lately, Edwards' perimeter shots haven't fallen at his usual rate. Yet when P.J. Thompson stole an inbounds pass three minutes into the second half, Edwards jumped back across the mid-court line, took the pass from Thompson and calmly swished a 3.

That capped an 8-0 spurt as Purdue separated for the first time with a 55-41 lead. He added another with 10:50 left to push the lead to 18.

"Like he said, we talked about it at halftime, and I told him keep defending, keep shooting," Mathias said. "He puts a lot of time into the game and he's so versatile. ... It's a tough matchup when he gets going like that."

Haarms' defensive impact on Purdue's rotation has been well-documented. 

Saturday, the redshirt freshman from The Netherlands enjoyed one of his best offensive performances so far.

Haarms scored seven points in 12 first-half minutes off the bench. Painter used him for several minutes alongside Haas, forcing an undersized Lipscomb team to contend with both 7-footers at the same time.

Not surprisingly Haarms drew several fouls, and took advantage by making 3 of 4 free throws. A 57.1 percent free throw shooter coming in, his continued development in that area will be critical as his minutes continue to climb.

Haarms collected nine points, eight rebounds and five blocks in 19 minutes.

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The Boilermaker coach on closing out the non-conference with an emphatic victory. Nathan Baird/Journal & Courier

Haas drew four fouls in the first four minutes of the second half as Purdue fed its big man out of the break. He scored 13 of his 10 points in the second half on 5-5 field goal shooting, anchoring the Boilermakers' near 60-percent effort after halftime.

He also grabbed seven rebounds — marking only the third time he's reached that mark this season.

"I'm about tired of everybody stealing my rebounds," Haas said. "When his teammates protested, he added, "There were like four I just let go.

Then, joking aside: "I do have to do a better job. I feel like I've improved — going to it, getting tow hands on it, stepping up, making those big-time rebounds the team needs."

Purdue struggled to contain Lipscomb leading scorer Garrison Matthews early. The junior guard made 6 of his first 8 field goal tries for 14 points after finding a handful of unimpeded driving lanes.

Matthews scored 25 points — topping the 20.6 average he brought into the game — but made only 2 of his last 12 attempts from the field. 

Lipscomb, which came in shooting 31.2 percent from 3-point range, made its first six tries from outside the arc. A couple of fortunate bounces kept that streak alive early. The Bisons then made 2 of their last 13.

"I think our defensive defensively intensity is what's really separated us the last few weeks," Mathias said. "We're sticking to scouting reports and the rules. We're more aggressive than we were, especially on the defensive end — doing the little things and sticking to details."

No. 14 PURDUE 98, LIPSCOMB 66

LIPSCOMB (9-5) - Pepper 1-2 0-2 2, Marberry 3-8 2-4 8, Mathews 8-20 6-7 25, Cooper 0-5 0-1 0, Buckland 2-3 0-1 4, Rose 5-8 0-0 13, Brammeier 0-3 0-0 0, Fleming 2-5 0-0 5, Korn 2-5 0-0 6, Duvall 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 24-62 8-15 66.

PURDUE (13-2) - V.Edwards 7-14 5-6 23, Haas 7-9 5-7 19, C.Edwards 7-13 1-1 18, Thompson 1-6 0-0 3, Mathias 5-9 2-2 15, Haarms 3-5 3-4 9, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Eifert 0-2 0-0 0, Cline 1-2 0-0 3, Eastern 2-3 0-2 4, Luce 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 35-65 16-22 98.

Halftime—Purdue 43-38. 3-Point Goals—Lipscomb 10-24 (Rose 3-6, Mathews 3-7, Korn 2-3, Fleming 1-2, Jones 1-2, Pepper 0-1, Marberry 0-1, Cooper 0-1, Buckland 0-1), Purdue 12-27 (V.Edwards 4-7, Mathias 3-6, C.Edwards 3-7, Cline 1-2, Thompson 1-4, Eastern 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Lipscomb 27 (Korn 6), Purdue 47 (V.Edwards 14). Assists—Lipscomb 15 (Cooper 5), Purdue 17 (Mathias 4). Total Fouls—Lipscomb 19, Purdue 16.