Purdue's Offense Explodes in Rout of No. 17 Iowa
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The story line is getting old and worn out during this Big Ten season, but Purdue took home-team domination to a new level Wednesday night in crushing No. 17 Iowa 104-68 in the friendly confines of loud and rowdy Mackey Arena.
Purdue (13-10 overall and 6-6 in the Big Ten) scored 61 points in the first half thanks to torrid 3-point shooting (11-for-20) and mistake-free basketball, making only two turnovers. Iowa never had a chance, falling behind early and never being able to get any traction.
The Hawkeyes (16-7 overall and 7-5 in the Big Ten) trailed by as much as 27 points points in the first half, and 39 in the second. Purdue finished with 19 3-pointers, the second-most in school history.
"We've shot the ball pretty well at home, but we haven't shot it like this. This game was an outlier for us,'' Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "I thought we really moved the basketball well and got some good inside-out looks.
"It was great to see our guys all get on a roll and make some shots. Hopefully that will be a good confidence booster going forward.''
Purdue had five players in double figures, with forward Evan Boudreaux leading the way with 18. Sasha Stefanovic, Matt Haarms and Jahaad Proctor all had 15, and Eric Hunter Jr. added 13.
Purdue had a first half for the ages, playing nearly perfect basketball for the first 20 minutes. They scored 61 points, the second-most in a half for any Purdue team in the past 15 years under Matt Painter and the fourth-most in a half against a Big Ten opponent in school history.
They made 11 3-pointers on 20 attempts, and when they did miss, they got eight offensive rebounds and scored off of six of those. They had 18 assists and only two turnovers.
Everyone had a hot hand. Sophomore guard Sasha Stefanovic, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer to beat Northwestern Saturday night, made his first two shots from deep in the opening minute and helped spur a 17-0 Purdue run.
Jahaad Proctor came off the bench at hit three long balls himself. Evan Boudreaux also made two 3-pointers and finished the half with 12 points, one of three Boilers in double-figures in the first half, along with Proctor (13) and Stefanovic.
Iowa was so far behind most of the half that it diminished the standout play Luka Garza, their star center. He had 17 points in the first half and finished the night with 26 points.
Mackey Arena was rocking all night. The crowd of 14,804 was Purdue's 20th straight sellout. The loudest roar came when fan favorite Tommy Luce hit a 3-pointer in the final two minutes to push Purdue over 100 points.
The second- and third-loudest roars might have come in the final minute, when Luce hit another 3-pointer and then took a charge on the other end.
Frustrated Iowa coach Fran McCaffery didn't have much of a summation for this loss, their worst of the year.
"They pounded us on the glass early, and that really hurt, especially so early in the game like that when you're down, what, 17-4 just like that,'' he said. "We were giving them two or three shots on every possession there for a while, and you just can't do that, especially on the road.
"Other than Luka, we really didn't have much going on offensively,'' said McCaffrey, whose other four starters were just a combined 6-for-21 shooting, with none of them reaching double figures. Two of Iowa's starting guards, Connor McCaffery and Joe Toussaint, were a combined 0-for-7 and only scored two points in a combined 46 minutes.
According to the Big Ten, the 36-point win over No. 17 Iowa is tied for the third-largest margin of victory for an unranked team over a ranked one this century.
The 104 points were the most Purdue has scored in a Big Ten home game since 1975.
Related Purdue basketball stories
- TOM BREW COLUMN: We've seen this, but can we see it back-to-back? CLICK HERE
- TOMMY LUCE'S BIG NIGHT: The fan favorite gets the Boilers over 100. CLICK HERE
- BREAKING DOWN HAWKERS Meet the Opponent feature focuses on Luka Garza
- STEFANOVIC ENJOYS GAME-WINNER: His shot beat Northwestern in final seconds
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who's worked at some America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Indianapolis Star. He also owns the book publishing company, Hilltop30 Publishing Group, and he has written four books and published 16 others.