GoldandBlack.com - Purdue exhibition season tips off tonight

November 3, 2009

Doug Griffiths

Purdue vs. California of Pennsylvania
Time: 7:05 p.m. ET
Date: Tuesday November 3
Place: Mackey Arena (capacity 14,123)
TV/Internet: The only live video broadcast of the game will be available on BigTenNetwork.com
Radio: The Purdue Sports Network (play-by-play Larry Clisby, color commentary Ralph Taylor, Rob Blackman handles the pregame show); the flagship station is WSHP-FM (95.7, Lafayette).
Series: Purdue has never played California of Pennsylvania in basketball.
Did You Know?: The Boilermakers are 11-0 in exhibition games against collegiate teams, posting a 20.3-point average margin of victory in those contests.

The Game:
The wait is finally over as the much-anticipated hoops season begins tonight for Coach Matt Painter's seventh-ranked Boilermakers.

Purdue begins its season with an exhibition game against the California University of Pennsylvania, which is coming off a 13-13 seasons a year ago.

Cal U, a Division II team, has already played one exhibition game this season. It fell to Miami (Ohio), 82-65, on Sunday after trailing by two points at halftime.

Needless to say Purdue is loaded as it returns all five starters and more than 80 percent of its points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals from last year's team, which finished 27-10, won the program's first-ever Big Ten Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.

After tonight's game, the Boilermakers will return to action Nov. 9 as they host eight-time NCAA Division II champion Kentucky Wesleyan in their final exhibition tilt of the season. That game will also begin at 7 p.m. and be available on BigTenNetwork.com.

This And That
* The Boilermakers have won 13 straight exhibition games and are 49-7 all-time in exhibition tilts.

* The Boilermakers have been ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll for 26 consecutive weeks, which is just eight shy of the program record of 34 weeks (established in 1992-94 and 1997-99).

* Tonight sophomore point guard Lewis Jackson begins serving his three-game suspension for violating team rules during the off-season.

* In case you're wondering, California University of Pennsylvania is located in California, Pa., which is 30 miles south of Pittsburgh.

* The Vulcans, who have enjoyed 23 straight winning seasons, were picked to finish second in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division by the conference coaches.

They won the PSAC in 2007-08.

* Cal U is coached by Bill Brown, a 1974 graduated of Ohio University. He is 271-110 overall, 112-46 in the conference in 12 seasons as Cal U's head coach.

* Single-game tickets are now available for most of Purdue's home games.

Six games - Michigan, Penn State, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan State and Indiana - are already sold out. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge game against Wake Forest has less than 200 tickets available.

If you're interested in buying tickets call the Purdue Athletics Ticket Office at 800-497-7678.

Purdue's Expected Starters:
* G/F: 4 Robbie Hummel - 6-8, 208, Jr., 12.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.9 apg
* F: 25 JaJuan Johnson - 6-10, 215, Jr., 13.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 0.7 apg
* G: 5 Keaton Grant - 6-4, 201, Sr., 7.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.9 apg
* G: 3 Chris Kramer - 6-3, 214, Sr., 5.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.5 apg
* G: 33 E'Twaun Moore - 6-4, 184, Jr., 13.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.0 apg

NOTE: Statistics are from the 2008-09 season

California of Pennsylvania's Expected Starters:
* F: 21 Chris Moore - 6-8, 185, Sr., 5.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 0.4 apg
* G: 4 Rashawd Hatten - 6-7, 200, Jr., NO STATS
* G: 10 Travis Williams - 6-0, 195, Jr., NO STATS
* G: 11 Joe Berenato - 6-3, 185, Jr., 6.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.1 apg
* G: 20 Jerial Nixon - 6-1, 215, Sr., 11.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.5 apg

NOTE: Statistics are from the 2008-09 season

Boilermakers To Watch
* Painter wants to see Johnson become a better rebounder. He should dominate on the glass tonight.

* Grant looked like a much better and healthier player in practices. Look for him to return to the form he showed as a sophomore.

* Speaking of health, Hummel has been pain free for months now and looks like an entirely different player than he was for a good chunk of last season. That's certainly good news for Purdue and bad news for everyone else.

Vulcans To Watch
* Sophomore forward Kelsey Williams (6-feet-7, 220 pounds) was selected to the All-PSAC West preseason team after leading the Vulcans in scoring and rebounding last season.

Williams scored 13 points against Miami (Ohio).

* Nixon scored a team-high 18 points against Miami (Ohio) as he hit 7-of-12 shots from the floor, including 4-of-6 three-pointers. In addition, Nixon had five assists and a pair of steals.

What's At Stake For Purdue
In their first dress rehearsal, if you will, of the season, the Boilermakers need to begin to gauge where they are after about three weeks of practice.

Having already suffered one significant injury - to freshman forward Sandi Marcius, who is out at least another month with a broken foot - the Boilermakers need to stay away from injuries.

With such an experienced and talented team returning, Painter really needs to use these exhibition games as barometers to tell him who might help off the bench this season and who probably won't.

Questions for Purdue
* Painter hopes to have his team in midseason form to start the year. Will it?

* How efficiently will the Boilermakers' offense run without point guard Jackson running the show?

* We've heard a lot about how sophomore guard Ryne Smith has improved his game. Will it be evident tonight?

* How will the freshmen look, including John Hart, who was redshirted last season?

* Kramer spent countless hours working on his shooting in the off-season. Will that extra time on the hardwood begin to pay dividends?

Bottom Line
As you would expect in a matchup like this, the Boilermakers have a decided advantage when it comes to size among other things.

That should translate to dominating the boards and many easy second-chance points.

Purdue will win going away ? now is that going out on a limb or what?

GoldandBlack.com Prediction
Purdue 98, California of Pennsylvania 59

LAST PICK: Purdue 73, Connecticut 72 (actual score Connecticut 72-60)

(Griffiths' Record Picking Purdue Games In 2008-09 = 30-9 (included two exhibition games; the losses were Duke, both Illinois games, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Northwestern and Connecticut); 2007-08 = 27-9; 2006-07 = 30-6; 2005-06 = 24-4; 2004-05 = 22-6; 2003-04 = 22-9; GRAND TOTAL = 155-43 (78.3% over the last six seasons)

NOTE: Be sure to check GoldandBlack.com tonight for a full report on the game.

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