IOWA CITY — The 20 3-pointers were punch lines to a cruel joke.
Every time, it seemed, when a three would fall, the shooter would grin, chuckle, and move on to the next one.
Carsen Edwards had six 3-pointers. P.J. Thompson and Dakota Mathias had four. Vincent Edwards and Ryan Cline had three.
Smiles, everybody.
Big Ten history had its own laugh track.
Purdue’s shooting clinic at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was one for the record books on Saturday.
The 87-64 victory over Iowa was a Purdue textbook and another failing grade for the fading Hawkeyes.
The third-ranked Boilermakers, who won their 15th consecutive game to move to 19-2 overall and 8-0 in the Big Ten, set a conference record for most 3-pointers made in a league game, and also set a school record and a Carver-Hawkeye single-game mark.
“They hit a lot of shots,” Iowa forward Tyler Cook said. “It’s hard against a team like that — when they get hot, it’s hard to stop them.”
Purdue was 33-of-59 from the field (55.9 percent) for the game, 20-of-29 in the first half while building a 51-20 halftime lead with shots that slowly sucked the emotion out of the arena on the day when former Hawkeye player Chris Street was being remembered 25 years after his death in a car accident during his junior season.
Purdue took control with an 18-0 run in the first half, then buried the Hawkeyes with an 18-2 run later in the half.
Such starts aren’t unusual for the Hawkeyes (10-11, 1-7), who have yet to lead at halftime in Big Ten play. They were down by 20 in the first half in the Jan. 11 win at Illinois, and trailed by 14 at halftime in Wednesday’s loss at Rutgers.
“Yeah, it’s really tough,” said Iowa freshman forward Luka Garza, who led the Hawkeyes with 19 points. “We want to get off to a better start and start punching teams in the mouth.”
Every Purdue shot in the first half was an open haymaker. The Boilermakers missed their first three 3-pointers, then made 11 of their next 13 in the first half.
Purdue was 20-of-33 in 3-pointers for the game.
The Boilermakers’ offense was so dominating, so skillfully easy, Iowa fans let out a sarcastic cheer when Carsen Edwards missed a 3-pointer late in the first half.
Everyone had jokes.
''We're much better when we just take whatever they give us and play off of our instincts,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “We have some really good passers. We have some guys that can shoot but we have guys who can pass the basketball.”
Painter noted how Purdue’s opponents had been sagging back lately to try to control 7-foot-2 center Isaac Haas, who averages 14.2 points. That prompted the Boilermakers to attack from the outside early, and it paid off.
Asked what was Iowa’s 3-point defensive game plan, Cook said, “We didn’t want them to make 20 threes, but they did.”
“We got outplayed by a really good team,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “They’ve been doing it to everybody. We have to move on and keep grinding.”
McCaffery was asked for a deeper assessment of his team, but he wasn’t going to budge.
“We got outplayed,” he said. “By a really good team.”
“You have to give them credit for how they played,” Iowa forward Nicholas Baer said.
The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, were 8-of-32 from the field in the first half. They went 6 ½ minutes without a point in the first half.
“We had some open looks,” Baer said. “We had guys who usually make those shots. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t make shots.”
Carsen Edwards finished with 22 points. Vincent Edwards had 19. Thompson had 14, while Mathias had 12.
The Boilermakers had 23 assists.
“I would say this — Purdue has got a special team,” McCaffery said. “They’ve really played well this year, they’re 19-2 for a reason. They shoot it, they throw it inside, they share it.”
Garza was the only Hawkeye in double figures.
Iowa has now lost five of its last six games.
“We’ve just got to learn from it and keep believing,” Garza said.
“There is no room for (being demoralized),” Cook said. “We’re here for a reason. We’re playing in the Big Ten for a reason. We just have to get better.”
“It’s important that we have to maintain that confidence level, that belief that we can turn this around, that we can win games at this level,” Baer said. “Obviously, it’s a challenge.”
No one was laughing.
PURDUE (19-2, 8-0)
Vincent Edwards 8-11 0-0 19, Isaac Haas 1-1 1-4 3, Carsen Edwards 8-15 0-0 22, P.J. Thompson 5-7 0-0 14, Dakota Mathias 4-8 0-0 12, Ryan Cline 3-6 0-0 9, Tommy Luce 0-1 0-0 0, Nojel Eastern 1-3 0-0 2, Jacquil Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, Grady Eifert 0-2 0-0 0, Matt Haarms 3-4 0-0 6. Totals: 33-59 1-4 87.
IOWA (10-11, 1-7)
Tyler Cook 3-8 3-4 9, Nicholas Baer 3-6 0-0 6, Luka Garza 8-10 1-2 19, Jordan Bohannon 3-9 2-2 9, Isaiah Moss 1-7 0-0 3, Ahmad Wagner 0-1 0-1 0, Maishe Dailey 1-4 0-03 3, Jack Nunge 0-3 0-0 2, Charlie Rose 1-1 0-0 2, Riley Till 0-0 0-0 0, Brady Ellingson 4-5 0-0 9, Dom Uhl 1-2 0-0 2, Cordell Pemsl 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 26-59 6-12 64.
Halftime: Purdue 51, Iowa 20. Total fouls: Purdue 17, Iowa 7. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: Purdue 20-33 (C.Edwards 6-9, Thompson 4-6, Mathias 4-6, V.Edwards 3-5, Cline 3-6, Haarms 0-1), Iowa 6-18 (Garza 2-3, Ellingson 1-1, Dailey 1-2, Moss 1-3, Bohannon 1-5, Baer 0-2, Nunge 0-2). Rebounds: Purdue 30 (Mathias 5), Iowa 32 (Baer 7). Assists: Purdue 23 (C.Edwards 8), Iowa 18 (Moss 5). Blocks: Purdue 5 (V.Edwards, Haarms 2), Iowa 4 (Cook, Baer, Garza, Nunge 1). Turnovers: Purdue 11, Iowa 11. Attendance: 14,822.