The Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Texas Southern Tigers by a final score of 99-67. Purdue’s leading scorers were Braden Smith with 19 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds, Zach Edey with 15 points and 6 rebounds, and Lance Jones with 15 points and 2 assists.

1st Half

This was Purdue’s first game after being named the #1 team in the country, and the first half proved the voters right. Purdue started off the game going 5-5 from the three point line, but they quickly fell back down to earth, ending the half shooting 6-13 from the three. Texas Southern played a very efficient defense, not allowing Edey to score much at all. Edey scored almost all of his 9 first half points from the free-throw line. But Texas Southern forgot about Braden Smith, who was taking advantage of the Edey double team and was carving up the defense the entire half. Purdue’s leading scorer of the first half was Braden Smith with 15 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds. Purdue led 44-29 at the half.

2nd Half

Purdue started off the 2nd half on fire, going on an early 14-0 run fueled by a pair of Lance Jones 3-pointers. Purdue 100% proved why they are the #1 ranked team in the country, Braden Smith was looking like the best point guard in the country, and Edey still showing why he won the NPOY award last season. Braden Smith was only 2 rebounds away from the 1st triple double in Purdue history, Smith had 19 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds. Purdue’s bench played a lot of minutes tonight, Myles Colvin scored 9 points, Will Berg scored 7 points, and Mason Gillis had 10 points. Purdue was very efficient shooting the ball, the Boilers were 29/54 (53.7%) from the field, and 12/24 (50%) from the three. This was an offensive explosion for the Boilers, 4 of the 5 starters for Purdue scored over 10 points, and most of them didn’t hardly play in the 2nd half. Purdue ended up coming short of reaching the century mark, but they still covered the 31.5 point spread. Purdue defeated Texas Southern by a score of 99-67.

Player of The Game: Braden Smith

Smith almost completed a feat that no other Boilermaker has ever done, A triple double. Smith ended the game with 19 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds, and given that he sat for the final 8 minutes, he definitely could’ve been the first triple double for Purdue. Smith showed a lot of poise, he looked like a 5th year senior, but he’s only a sophomore. This was Braden’s second game this season where he only needed a few more rebounds to get a triple double. Personally I think that Smith will be one of the best Purdue point guards of all time, maybe even the best.

#1 Purdue plays Northwestern on Friday, December 1st at 9:00 pm EST

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Boiler Insider Podcast – #1 Purdue vs Texas Southern Game Recap