MENS BASKETBALL

Purdue 100, Jacksonville 57

Reuters

West Lafayette IN - Zach Edey scored 18 points on just eight shot attempts as No. 1 Purdue cruised to a 100-57 nonconference rout of Jacksonville.

Lance Jones added 16 and Trey Kaufman-Renn chipped in 15 points for the Boilermakers (11-1), who looked the part in the beginning of their second stint as the top-ranked team in the country. Purdue converted 51.5 percent of its field-goal tries and drew assists on 25 of its 35 made buckets.

Robert McCray V scored a game-high 22 points for the Dolphins (8-5) but also committed nine of their 22 turnovers. No one else was in double figures for Jacksonville, which made just 36.8 percent of its field-goal attempts and collected only five assists.

The Boilermakers led by 18 points at halftime and didn't mess around to start the second half. They rattled off the first 12 points -- Edey contributing a three-point play and two free throws to the spurt -- for a 57-27 cushion with 17:01 left after Kaufman-Renn hit a short jumper.

Purdue consistently turned Dolphin mistakes into points. It scored 21 points off their turnovers and earned a 13-4 advantage in fast-break points. As the margin widened, coach Matt Painter cleared his bench. No one played more than Edey's 24 minutes.

Kaufman-Renn and Jones combined for 14 of the Boilermakers' first 17 points, with Jones' jam putting them up 17-7 less than five minutes into the game. Purdue led by double figures for most of the last 35 minutes as the Dolphins were powerless to stop them inside or outside.

Jacksonville had one decent run, pulling within 29-22 on Stephon Payne III's putback dunk with 7:10 left in the half. But the Boilermakers ripped off a 12-2 spurt, capped by two foul shots by Jones, to take a 41-24 advantage with 2:42 remaining.

Jones finished off a 13-point half by stealing the ball from Payne and soaring for a breakaway dunk, helping Purdue take a 45-27 cushion to the break.

December 21, 2023