8/15/2016 basketball Edit

Purdue rolls to perfect record in Spain

Brian Neubert • BoilerUpload

GoldandBlack.com staff

@brianneubert

More: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Analysis ($): Thoughts on Game 4 | Cliz on the win

From Purdue: Matt Painter comments

Sparked by some red-hot shooting by point guard P.J. Thompson, Purdue surged to its fourth win in as many games during its exhibition tour in Spain.

Thompson made 6-of-7 first-half shots - 4-of-5 from three-point range - as Purdue rolled to a 25-point lead at the break, then never looked back, leading by 45 after three before beating Euro Basketball Academy 117-66.

"We were able to get going early and put the team away by establishing a post presence with Isaac (Haas) and Caleb (Swanigan)," associate head coach Jack Owens said, "then (Ryan) Cline and Dakota (Mathias) were able to make shots from the perimeter. Then, obviously, P.J. played his best game today and made a lot of perimeter shots."

Thompson finished with 19 points, while Caleb Swanigan capped his dominant trip with 16 and 12 rebounds as seven Boilermakers scored in double-figures.

Ryan Cline added 15 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting while Dakota Mathias chipped in 13 points, seven assists and five steals. Vince Edwards scored 12 with four assists against no turnovers and Carsen Edwards chipped in a dozen on 5-of-9 shooting, capping an outstanding trip for the rookie.

Purdue outrebounded EBA 62-27.

"Overall, this was a great trip for us," Owens said. "We were able to g0 4-0 and some guys who needed game experience were able to play some games. But for the most part, the team bonding we were able to do this week, from the tours, to eating out, to learning about the culture here in Spain, it's been awesome.

"It was great to get guys game experience and to get guys playing together, it was something you couldn't just draw up. Having the 10 days of practice, then being able to play different teams with different styles, it was great."

Purdue, a preseason top-25 team, hopes the trip overseas has helped it build some positive momentum heading into a season for which expectations will be high.

"Going on these foreign trips, you're able to use it as a springboard going into your season," Owens said. "The new guys - Carsen and Spike (Albrecht) - are going to be able to use this and it'll help them be prepared for practice when we start. The game experience is going to help them, but so will just knowing the terminology and how we go about our game-day approach. ... It's going to go a long way as we get ready for non-conference and then ultimately, Big Ten play."

Membership Information: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?