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Purdue and Clemson meet for the Space Coast Challenge championship, after the Boilermakers beat Liberty 77-64 and the Tigers beat Mississippi State 53-42. ... Purdue's looking for their third preseason tournament championship In the past seven first, and first since winning the Cancun Challenge — this is the Cancun Challenge, by the way — four years ago. ... Purdue is 2-3 vs. Clemson all-time but in modern years has won two of three as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, most recently a win at Clemson in 2012.

Schedule | Statistics | Roster

The Boilermakers debuted five first-year players Thursday night vs. Liberty, with freshman center Zach Edey starring, as did Jaden Ivey and Brandon Newman. Edey scored 19 on 9-of-10 shooting, while Ivey scored 12 on 5-of-7 and Newman added 10 points. ... Purdue remains without guard Eric Hunter — an invaluable veteran — due to a knee injury. He made the trip to Florida, but will miss several more week. ... The Boilermakers did get 10 minutes out of freshman guard Ethan Morton during Liberty. He missed most of the preseason due to mono. ... Purdue made eight of its first 11 threes vs. Liberty and finished 9-of-18.

C — 50 TREVION WILLIAMS (6-10, 265, Junior)

Williams never get in much of a rhythm offensively against Liberty and struggled early at the foul line on limited attempts, but dominated the glass and really impacted Purdue offensively as a passer. The Boilermakers will again go right back to him early and often against the Tigers.

F — 1 AARON WHEELER (6-9, 205, Junior)

Wheeler is off to a fine start to the season, coming off a really nice game against Liberty in which he made threes, but also generated offense off defense and the offensive glass. He's hoping for much different results from his disappointing sophomore season and early returns — albeit just one game — were very good.

G — 55 SASHA STEFANOVIC (6-5, 200, Junior)

Stefanovic made three of his five threes against Liberty, handed out five assists and made important veteran-type plays down the stretch. He was rock-solid. No reason to think he won't be all season.

G — 11 ISAIAH THOMPSON (6-1, 160, Sophomore)

In his first college start — he's Purdue's No. 1 point guard now with Eric Hunter — Thompson was solid. He didn't turn the ball over, which is a big part of the job description for him. He scored seven points with two assists. Purdue would probably like him to up the pressure he applies on the ball defensively.

G — 5 BRANDON NEWMAN (6-5, 195, Redshirt Freshman)

Newman started strong, too, scoring 10 points in his Purdue debut, attacking off the bounce when defenders clung to the Boilermaker big men and making a three. His effort level showed up in the blocked shot he made when he ran down a Flame from behind to take a likely two points off the board.

F — 0 MASON GILLIS (6-6, 230, Redshirt Freshman)

Gillis played his first game in years against Liberty and it was a mixed bag. He banked in a three and grabbed two rebounds. He can be a physical tone-setter for Purdue around the basket, but that may show up more in Big Ten-style games as opposed to what the Boilermakers saw vs. Liberty.

C — 15 ZACH EDEY (7-4, 285, Freshman)

It might have taken a mere 40 minutes of college basketball for Purdue's freshman center to make a name for himself, since he went viral after scoring 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Purdue may really be onto something here.

G — 23 JADEN IVEY (6-4, 200, Freshman)

Speaking of excellent debuts, Ivey got 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting against Liberty, cast into a new role playing point guard with Eric Hunter out. Ivey's going to be aggressive, and that's what Purdue needs from him to jumpstart its offense, and he seemed to pick his spots mostly well vs. Liberty.

G — 25 ETHAN MORTON (6-6, 215, Freshman) (Q)

The freshman likely wasn't himself in his 10 minutes against Liberty, fresh off his lengthy battle with mono. It may take a few games at least for him to round back into form, but Purdue's backcourt situation right now is such that it'll take any solid minutes it can get from him, even if he is limited.

Schedule | Statistics | Roster

Clemson beat Mississippi State 53-42 Wednesday night, forcing 19 Bulldog turnovers and turning them into 22 points. ... The Tigers did not have any player score more than 10 points Wednesday night. ... Clemson's known as a streaky shooting team, and was 5-of-25 from three in its season opener. ... Clemson played 12 players in the opener, all of them at least three minutes. It's expected to play a rotation regularly.

F — 5 HUNTER TYSON (6-8, 215, Junior)

F — 25 AAMIR SIMS (6-8, 245, Senior)

The All-ACC forward averaged 13 points and seven rebounds per game last season and made 40 percent of his three-pointers. He was in foul trouble vs. Mississippi State.

G — 2 AL-AMIR DAWES (6-2, 180, Sophomore)

G — 0 CLYDE TRAPP (6-4, 203, Senior)

G — 3 CHASE HUNTER (6-3, 204, Sophomore)

F — 24 PJ HALL (6-10, 235, Freshman)

A really highly regarded recruit coming out of high school who Purdue dabbled with, Hall was 5-of-6 from the floor for 10 points in his debut.

G — 12 ALEX HEMENWAY (6-3, 185, Sophomore)

Hemenway is from Castle High School in Southern Indiana.

G — 15 JOHN NEWMAN III (6-5, 207, Junior)

G — 4 NICK HONOR (5-10, 205, Junior)

One win didn't change the fact that Purdue's still an unknown commodity. Promising, yes, but there are going to be ups and downs. The Boilermakers are off to a nice one-game start, though, and their talent is plain as day to see. A better showing from Trevion Williams scoring-wise, better foul-shooting, a bit more defensive oompf and a few more free throws and Purdue should have a good chance to win this event.

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