PDF: Purdue-McNeese State box score
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Caleb Swanigan returned to Purdue for his sophomore season in hopes of being dominant.
As his team was laboring through the first half of its season-opener against McNeese State Friday, Swanigan found that form, and it sparked the 15th-ranked Boilermakers to a 109-65 win to begin this much-anticipated 2016-17 season.
"We just needed to get the momentum going and get things going our way," Swanigan said. "... (McNeese State) competed in the first 10 minutes. We just needed to turn it up."
Purdue trailed the Cowboys by as many as five during the first half, as McNeese State opened the game hot from three-point range and Purdue opened it not so hot, among other imperfections to begin the season.
But with the Boilermakers trailing by three with under minutes left in the first half, Swanigan made the front end of a pair of foul shots, then missed the second, giving Vincent Edwards a chance to score off the putback. Next time down, Swanigan hit Isaac Haas for a bucket, then drew fouls on the next two trips and turned them into 4-of-4 foul shooting.
Purdue led by eight when Swanigan emphatically swatted a shot off the glass on defense, then rebounded Spike Albrecht's miss at the other end for an and-one that moved forward a Purdue run that peaked at 17-0.
Swanigan finished the first half with a respectable day's work: 17 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and nearly a half dozen fouls drawn.
In 16 minutes.
That first-half effort swung the game.
"He came out with passion and that kind of fired us up," Haas said. "We'd started off kind of slow at first and when he came in and played balls to the wall, it was kind of inspiring and really good for the rest of our guys, because we then started playing harder. We can't rely on one person to do that, but we definitely have to thank him for that tonight."
For the game, Swanigan totaled 23 points and 20 rebounds - the first 20-20 game for Purdue since '72. He was one of two Boilermakers to finish with a double-double. Vincent Edwards posted 19 and 11.
Carsen Edwards finished with 18 in his Purdue debut.
After a slow start on the glass, the Boilermakers routed their overmatched visitors 59-28.
Swanigan led that effort, too, attacking on the offensive glass to an extent not often seen last season at Purdue. Eight of his 20 rebounds came on the offensive end.
"When he gets that passion and that spark, it really helps us," Vincent Edwards said. "It wasn't really anything different. I've seen that plenty of times since we've been here. That was just Biggie being Biggie, being aggressive and attacking the glass."
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