Carsen Edwards' big night carries Purdue past IUPUI

WEST LAFAYETTE — The jump shots were not falling, so Carsen Edwards went to Plan B.

"When you can't make a jumper, you just go to the basket," the sophomore guard said.

That method was much more effective.

Edwards scored a career-high 27 points on 11 of 17 shooting, leading No. 21 Purdue to an 86-61 victory over IUPUI at Mackey Arena.

The victory was the 300th in coach Matt Painter's career, including 25 in his one season as Southern Illinois head coach. 

Uncharacteristic mishandling of the basketball and equally abysmal outside shooting put Purdue (10-2) in an early 19-10 hole and had the visiting Jaguars (2-6) thinking upset.

The Boilermakers missed their first eight 3-point attempts before Ryan Cline let loose on one that gave Purdue a 31-27 lead with 3:27 to go in the first half, part of 24-8 run. Cline buried another with 1:45 to go and connected with PJ Thompson on the left wing for a buzzer-beating 3 that gave Purdue a 40-31 halftime lead.

"This is his third game in a row that (Cline) played well and that's what you need. You need some consistency," Painter said. "In his defense, it is hard being that sixth or seventh man and not getting consistent minutes. We have some pretty good guards and to have a guy like Ryan come off the bench and help us is definitely a plus for us."

Cline continued his recent stellar play and his outside shooting (3 of 5) spread throughout the team, which ended up hitting eight of its final 18 from 3.

"Once one person gets going, everyone else feeds off it and I think that's what happened tonight," Cline said. 

Despite the early turnovers (seven in the first nine minutes), Purdue had just one in the final 11 minutes of the first half and made up for its lack of outside shooting by making 12 of 14 inside the arc. 

The late first-half momentum carried over to the second, where Carsen Edwards scored seven points in the first 2:20. The Boilermaker lead swelled to as much as 32 midway through the second half.

Painter credited the production of IUPUI's bench, which accounted for 42 points, led by double-digit scorers Maurice Kirby (16), Jaylen Minnett (12) and T.J. Henderson (10).

That effort was wiped out by Carsen Edwards' career night, along with Vincent Edwards' fifth double-double of the season. Vincent Edwards had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Isaac Haas joined those two in double figures with 14 points, leading Purdue's 54.4 percent night from the field by going 6 of 7.

It started late in the first half with Carsen Edwards, who helped the Boilermakers with his ability to get in the lane when Purdue was uncharacteristically cold from the outside.

"We're not a limited team," Painter said. "We have to be able to get the ball to the rim besides throwing the ball inside to Isaac. We have to drive the basketball."

Cline and Nojel Eastern had nine points apiece off the bench for Purdue, which now enjoys a couple of off days during finals week before preparing for Butler in Saturday's Crossroads Classic.

Relieved to escape after yet another poor start despite racking up its 14th straight home win, Purdue knows it must perform better from the opening tip going forward.

"We're not going to win the Big Ten or be where we want to be, so we've just got to come out better," Vincent Edwards said. "If you can't get up and have energy to play at this level of Division I basketball, then I don't know what you are doing. I think that is something that is very easy for us to fix."