No. 24 Purdue Dominates Penn State, 74-57
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Vince Edwards scored 19 points, Isaac Haas had 14 and Caleb Swanigan added 13 as No. 24 Purdue routed struggling Penn State 74-57 on Wednesday night.
The Boilermakers (15-3, 3-2 Big Ten) have won seven of eight in this series and nine straight at home against the Nittany Lions.
Penn State (10-8, 1-4) was led by Brandon Taylor, who finished with 21 points despite playing most of the second half in foul trouble. Donovon Jack scored 12 in the Nittany Lions' second straight loss.
Purdue's big men — Haas and A.J. Hammons — simply outmuscled Penn State in the low post, which opened things up for Edwards. And the Boilermakers took advantage of their overwhelming combination.
They finished the first half on a 10-3 run to build a 38-25 lead, then opened the second half on an 8-3 spurt to make it 46-28 with 17:09 to play, sealing the outcome.
The Nittany Lions just didn't have any answers defensively. And when their best player, Taylor, drew his third foul late in the first half and his fourth with 15:34 left in the game, their slim chances of a big comeback vanished.
Purdue made sure of it.
Right after Taylor went to the bench, Edwards and Dakota Mathias hit back-to-back 3-pointers, Haas drew a foul in the post and made two free throws and Edwards made another 3 to give Purdue a 59-37 with 12:07 to go.
Penn State never got closer than 14 again on a night the Boilermakers controlled the game almost wire-to-wire.
They used an 11-2 run to break a 7-7 tie and extended the lead to 23-11 midway through the first half.
Penn State did cut the 28-22, but Purdue answered with seven straight points.
MR. 300
Hammons is the nation's active leader in blocks and added to his total with two more Wednesday. That gives him 301 in his career making him only the second player in school history with 300 blocks. The Boilermakers' career leader is Joe Barry Carroll (349), who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1980 NBA draft.
TIP-INS
Penn State: Hasn't won at Mackey Arena since Feb. 18, 2006. ... Penn State is 2-5 on the road this season with its only wins coming Dec. 2 at Boston College in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and at Drexel on Dec. 19. ... The Nittany Lions committed 12 turnovers and had only five offensive rebounds.
Purdue: Has its best record after 18 games since 1993-94 and its fifth straight 3-2 start in Big Ten play. ... Purdue kept its 15th opponent below its season scoring average and had a 42-25 rebounding edge to retain its distinction as the only Division I team to outrebound every opponent this season.
UP NEXT
Penn State visits Northwestern on Saturday.
Purdue visits Rutgers on Monday.
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