Purdue 86, Marquette 71: Golden Eagles crushed by size

With Purdue boasting two players standing at least 7-foot-2, the Boilermakers had a clear size advantage against Marquette on Tuesday night.

Purdue rode that massive mismatch to an 86-71 victory in front of 13,307 fans at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The Boilermakers, ranked No. 21 in the USA Today coaches poll, scored 30 points in the paint. The Golden Eagles (1-1) had just 12.

Purdue (3-0) also finished 18 for 23 on free throws.

"They're really good. They know who they are as a team," MU head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "They have an identity. The kids know their roles; they embrace it. They have years of playing together. They are a grizzled, hardened team."

With 6-11 Harry Froling not available until mid-December after transferring from SMU, MU's biggest players against Purdue were 6-10 Matt Heldt and 6-9 freshman Theo John.

That wouldn't cut it against Purdue, which starts 7-2 senior Isaac Haas and brings 7-3 Matt Haarms off the bench.

BOX SCORE:Purdue 86, Marquette 71

Purdue immediately tried to take advantage down low, dumping the ball into Haas on the block for a jump hook on the Boilermakers' first possession.

Haas was shooting 4 of 8 with two rebounds before picking up his second foul and getting banished to the bench for the final 7:41 of the first half. That just brought in another 7-footer in Haarms.

MU closed the first half on an 11-2 run in the final 3:42, fueled by a small-ball lineup of 6-8 sophomore Sam Hauser, 6-3 freshman Greg Elliott, 6-5 sophomore Sacar Anim, 5-11 senior Andrew Rowsey and 5-11 sophomore Markus Howard.

The Boilermakers took a 32-30 lead into intermission after Carsen Edwards blocked Rowsey's fast-break layup right before the buzzer.

With Haas back in the game to start the second half, the Boilermakers started feeding the big man again.

He scored four buckets in the paint in the first 2:31 after the break, forcing  Wojciechowski to call timeout with Purdue leading, 41-31.

MU got to within 45-43 with 14:39 remaining but would not get any closer.

Rowsey (25 points), Howard (24) and Hauser (12) paced MU's offense. No other MU player had more than five.

"We just got to play together better. We have to move without the ball. Move the ball more than once," Howard said. "It's not going to work after the first or second pass. We've got to continue moving the ball side to side, in and out." 

The problem for MU's offense was that Purdue had some pretty big deterrents around the basket.

"When you drive the ball against them, you're not going to score at the rim with the big fella in there," Wojciechowski said. "To start the game, I thought we tried to test that. We failed the test."

Haas finished with 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting and added five rebounds. Haarms had seven points and three rebounds. Edwards added 15 points.

"I think just having the threat of Isaac Haas down there was too much for them," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "They didn't have an answer for him. And then when they did come double, he did a good job of passing the ball before they could bottle him up, then get them into rotations."

The young Golden Eagles were forced to take their lumps from the veteran Boilermakers. 

"We're very much evolving as a team," Wojciechowski said. "With Sam, Markus and Andrew, those guys have been key contributors to a good team. Those other guys are figuring out how to do that. That's not a knock - we're just in an evolution as a group."