11/6/2018 basketball Edit

All-American Carsen Edwards' season off to a strong start

Brian Neubert • BoilerUpload

GoldandBlack.com staff

Analysis ($): 3-2-1 | Wrap Video | Stat Blast | Final Thoughts

Things change now for Carsen Edwards this season, as the Boilermaker All-American's now surrounded by a very different team around him, and because of it, the magnitude of his role multiplies.

But the more things have changed, the more they've stayed the same, as was evident Tuesday night, as the junior dominated in No. 24 Purdue's 90-57 season-opening win.

Edwards rained jumpers of all kinds from all over the floor against the Stags, opening this season as he finished last, scoring 30.

"I think I looked at him at one point and said, 'You're a sick dude,'" teammate Grady Eifert said. "I think he'd pulled up from 25 feet on one, and then hit three in a row."

But with 8:47 left in the first half against Fairfield Tuesday night, Edwards — the preseason Big Ten Player-of-the-Year and a first-team preseason All-American by most accounts – jumped a passing lane, only to catch body instead of ball. His second foul sent him to the bench.

Two-and-a-half minutes later, Matt Painter sent him back out.

At 6:17, he put him right back in, showing some faith in his team's leading scorer that he'd validate the decision as a sound one.

"I don't think it's faith," Edwards said, when asked about Painter putting him back in. "More like trust. ... He left me in. He normally doesn't, so I guess it's a step forward, but regardless of that, I have to play without fouling."

Whether Painter's decision had anything to do with it or not is debatable, Edwards didn't miss a beat.

After the brief cool-down period on the bench, Edwards helped Purdue close strong a first half in which it fell behind 6-0, only to score 19 of the next 23 points, in which it missed six of its first seven shots, only to make 15 of its final 23.

In the second half, Edwards erupted.

He scored Purdue's first 12 points, off a lay-up, then a three, then a four-point play, then another three, this one from especially long range, after halftime, as the Boilermakers pushed a 17-point halftime lead into the 20s and were never threatened again.

Edwards finished 10-of-17 from the floor, 7-of-11 from three.

"He was very efficient tonight," Painter said. "He might want a couple decisions back, one or two shots back, but for the most part he did a really good job of taking shots when they were there and moving the ball when they weren't."

Also, he spear-headed a Boilermaker transition game that might have shown from the outset what it can be this season, and maybe what it will need to be.

Purdue contributed to Fairfield turning the ball over 12 times.

That's not a gaudy number.

But the Boilermakers turned those turnovers into 19 points. Nine of Purdue's points came off fast breaks.

Though Edwards posted his third game of 30 or more points in the first game of his junior season, he wasn't a one-man show, by any means.

Senior Ryan Cline kept up his play from a strong preseason, with 13 points and eight assists to just one turnover in a team-high 29 minutes. In their Purdue debuts, Evan Boudreaux and Eric Hunter each scored 10, Hunter giving the Boilermakers especially valuable minutes in their backcourt in his first college game.

And Eifert, in his first-game as Purdue's clear starter at the "power" forward position, made three of his four shots, two his three threes, scored nine and grabbed 10 rebounds.

But this was obviously one of those nights from Edwards, one of the most formidable scorers in college basketball.

Different year, different cast, same approach.

That's been Matt Painter's message.

"He told me to approach the game the way I did last year," Edwards said. "The most important thing is I just do my job. That's what he tells me to do, just the things I need to do. We have skilled guys around me, guys who can shoot the ball, get to the rim and get baskets. I'm just going to continue to do my job and approach the game like I did last year."

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