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More: Vincent Edwards sparks Purdue
In a pair of games that it simply could not afford to lose, Purdue left no doubt.
After blowing out Illinois a few days ago, the 21st-ranked Boilermakers did the same to Penn State Saturday in Mackey Arena, winning 77-52.
Make no mistake here: Purdue's biggest accomplishment this past week came simply in not absorbing a shocking upset, not stepping on another land mine on its way to what it hopes will be a legitimate crack at a Big Ten title. After frustrating losses to Minnesota and Iowa, it could not afford it.
"Our approach and our focus has just been coming to play hard, keeping our goal in mind," forward Vincent Edwards said.
That approach showed up these past two games, as for the past 80 minutes of college basketball, there was hardly a moment of doubt in either outcome.
Not against Illinois and certainly not against Penn State, as Purdue fell behind 2-0, then scored the next 15 points. When the Nittany Lions cut a robust Boilermaker lead down to four, Purdue finished the first half on a 17-3 run.
The second half was a formality as the home team led by fewer than 20 points for mere seconds, holding an advantage that peaked at 26. With the outcome never in doubt, the Mackey Arena crowd could worry about other urgent matters such Caleb Swanigan's double-double status and the potential for a Tommy Luce sighting. (It got both.)
Purdue backed up a strong defensive game against Illinois with an even better one against Penn State.
The young Nittany Lions shot 31 percent.
Freshman guard Tony Carr, coming off a 24-point game against Indiana, was 2-of-11. Leading scorer Shep Garner was 3-of-9, but didn't score until a little more than five minutes remained, his team down 26 at the time.
"We knocked them out of rhythm early," Purdue guard Dakota Mathias said, "and didn't give them anything easy."
And the Boilermakers backed it up with an almost surgical offensive showing. Purdue shot nearly 57 percent and generally could only be stopped by itself. It committed 16 turnovers, not a single one of which really mattered all that much, though that shouldn't distract from the fact that in a closer game, or one in which Purdue didn't shoot this well, they would have.
Vincent Edwards was the Boilermakers' catalyst, having a hand in five straight scoring possessions during Purdue's 15-0 early run. He finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists and a couple of non-assist assists that led to shooting fouls.
As the game wore on, though, Caleb Swanigan - as he tends to do - wielded more and more of his considerable influence.
He assured Purdue that there would be no second-half scare. He scored 10 of his game-high 19 in the first 6:19 or so of the second half, making five of six Purdue field goals around that time and assisting on the other.
He led Purdue, per usual, with 12 rebounds — spearheading a 39-30 Boilermaker win on the glass — and handed out four assists.
In a bit of muscle-flexing from Purdue, Swanigan dealt Penn State what might have been a demoralizing blow late in the first half.
He'd just buried a three-pointer to give Purdue a 14-point lead with less than five minutes left in the half, not long after the Lions had gotten within two possessions. Shortly thereafter, he grabbed a defensive rebound, but turned the ball over on the outlet pass, as Purdue has been doing too often the past few games, turning the ball over in its own end.
But instead of conceding a layup to the streaking Terrence Samuel, Swanigan blocked his shot, then at the other end hit Carsen Edwards under the basket for an and-one.
It was a five-point swing and a glowing example of the authority Purdue played with in this game, and the last two for that matter.
But things change now. Now comes the make-or-break portion of Purdue's season.
It goes on the road for four of its next five and all but four of its games from here on out.
Purdue's been shaky on the road.
It's just won two games that, truthfully, would only have mattered had Purdue lost. It's looked in peak form in so doing, so the hope will be that in these two games, the Boilermakers have turned some sort of corner and may not be primed to peak at the right time.
"Our guys were ready to play all four halves. Everybody wants to get ready and have a good start to the game, but it's also important to have a good start to the second half and I thought that in both games, we did that," Coach Matt Painter said. "We were focused and ready, but we also shot the ball well. When you get into games, especially on the road, when it doesn't go your way, you're not shooting the ball well, can you continue to defend or do you let the offense dictate how you play, how you handle yourself?"
Time will tell.
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