Purdue 99, Texas Southern 67- Game Wrap

After Purdue and Texas Southern's season both ended the same way last season, losing to Fairleigh Dickinson in the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers tried to do its best FDU impression by going small and speeding up the game against #1 Purdue.

But Braden Smith, in his second season, looked like a player who now had the answers to any test the season could throw at him, and led Purdue to a 99-67 victory.

Smith looked like he might make history for Purdue when he went to the bench just over the halfway point of the second half. Smith had 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists when he went to the bench. Purdue has only had one triple-double in school history, but with the game out of hand and a Big Ten opener on Friday looming, Smith never made his way back onto the court.

With Purdue's point guard playing like an All-American, it almost seems unfair to have the National Player of the Year, Zach Edey, on the inside, almost as an after thought this game. But Edey had his usual impact, including drawing a lot of fouls on Texas Southern from the jump. Edey had 15 points and 6 rebounds in 21 minutes of action.

Edey attempted 10 or more free throws for the fifth time this season. Purdue as a team attempted 40 free throws and made 28 of them. Two Tigers players fouled out, and its coach was given a technical late in the second half.

Texas Southern did look like a team that could make Purdue's life a little difficult in the first half. After jumping out to a 13-0 lead to start the game, Purdue struggled to keep its margin towards the end of the first half. Texas Southern was able to cut into Purdue's lead and Purdue had just a 44-29 lead headed into half.

But Purdue, one day into being ranked the #1 team in the nation, came out to start the second half with a point to prove. Purdue looked like the best team in the country in the second half, jumping on Texas Southern early, sparked by Smith's shot making and back to back Lance Jones which extended Purdue's lead to 60-33, a 16-2 run in the first four minutes of the second half, the Boilers would roll the Tigers the rest of the way with its starters mostly sitting with more than nine minutes to play and not getting back on the court.

Braden Smith's first pull up three was about as text book as it gets. Texas Southern went under a screen and gave the sophomore guard enough room to step into a three-pointer. Smith took it and made it. His second pull up three, it seemed more like a statement. With Purdue's offense waning, Smith had just enough space to get the jumper off, which he also made, and then he got to tack one point onto it after a whistle signaled he was fouled on the attempt.

This Purdue offense wasn't going to wilt against a team playing small and fast. Instead, Smith and company would thrive in the chaos, making jumpers and getting to the free throw line.

Smith, for his part, looked like a player that tested himself thirty minutes a night in the Big Ten last year as a true freshman, took that experience, and launched himself up another level. He's already threatened a triple-double mark this season, scoring 11, grabbing 8 boards, and dishing 11 assists in Purdue's second game of the season against Morehead St..

Smith was even better against Texas Southern who seemed to be playing into Smith's hands by going small and playing fast. Not something Purdue could say very often about its team last year.

He finished just two rebounds shy of the program's second triple-double again.

Whatever Matt Painter thought he was getting from Southern Illinois transfer, Lance Jones, he's getting and maybe even more. Jones, after a dynamic showing at the Maui Invitational, came back to Mackey Arena firing on all cylinders. Jones hit 4 of 5 three-pointers, including three in the second half, and continues his hot shooting that extended all the way to a three-quarters prayer to end the first half of Purdue's win over Marquette in the Maui Invitational Championship.

Jones had 15 points for the game to go along with 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

With five minutes to play in the first half, true freshman Myles Colvin showed off his athleticism going after a lay up in transition after a Fletcher Loyer jumper was blocked. Unfortunately, Colvin's ability to get in the air meant he had a long way to fall when he went over a Texas Southern player, folding up his body and causing him to land squarely on his back. Colvin took several moments to get up and was taken out of the game, but was moving under his own power.

Myles Colvin would come back in and play in the second half of the game.