• Players Postgame / Painter Postgame
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Finally! Victory, sweet victory.
Purdue needed this 95-67 win over Ohio. It didn't matter who was in the other jersey Thursday, the Boilermakers just needed to taste victory to pull them from a funk that had seen them lose four of the previous five games. And several of those defeats were excruciating.
Now, Purdue can exhale and stay focused. The Boilermakers are on track and have confidence back. They need to build on this dominating win.
The big key at Mackey Arena: Shooting. The team found its touch from long range, which had been missing. Purdue hit 52.9 percent (9-of-17) of its 3-pointers in the first half and never look back en route to hitting 48 percent (14-of-29) for the game. The Boilermakers entered the game shooting 36 percent from long range.
Everyone got in on the act on this night, but Purdue's two biggest stars - Carsen Edwards and Ryan Cline - played like big stars. And that was huge for Matt Painter's team, which is now 7-5 overall. The tandem combined to hit 9-of-17 from 3-point range. That was enough to bury the Bobcats, as Purdue tallied a season-high 95 points.
Edwards - who else? - led the way with 30 points. The Big Ten's leading scorer hit 10-of-16 shots overall and 4-of-9 from 3-point land with a team-high five assists, three rebounds and a team-high three steals. Edwards looked like an All-American.
And it was a good sign for Purdue that Cline re-discovered his stroke with 19 points. The senior had been in a funk entering the night. In the previous three games, Cline had hit only 9-of-32 shots (28 percent) and just 4-of-24 3-pointers (17 percent). Against Ohio, Cline hit 7-of-11 shots overall and 5-of-8 from long range with four assists.
Painter tweaked the starting lineup, opting to have Evan Boudreaux start over Matt Haarms. But the move that made the most impact came from Eric Hunter off the bench. The thiny-thin true freshman had scored just two points in the previous five games and 12 total since the season opener. Tonight, the kid scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting overall and 2-of-3 from long range with four assists.
Up next for Purdue is a visit from a dangerous Belmont team Dec. 29. Then, the Boilermakers resume Big Ten play with a home tilt against Iowa on Jan. 3. Until then, Purdue needs to savor this triumph. It was earned ... and much-needed.