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Purdue Men Pick Up 87-46 Win Over Arkansas State

Charlotte Tuggle
/
WBAA

Following a big victory Wednesday over Arkansas State, the buzz phrase for the Purdue men's basketball team was "team ball."

The Boilermakers dished out 21 assists and held the Red Wolves to 30-percent shooting from the field.

Purdue is one of seven teams in the nation to hold at least three opponents to 43 points or fewer. The team also handled the ball better than in a loss to North Florida, committing just ten turnovers for the game.

"Our guys did a good job early of getting the ball inside to both Isaac [Haas] and A.J. [Hammons]. We just haven't finished here the last couple of games the way we're capable of finishing, but we're going to keep working on it because I think it's a huge weapon for our team," Painter said. "We just had a healthy diet of drives, post-ups and jump shots. When you have that kind of balance, obviously it makes for a good offense."

Red Wolves guard Sean Gardner, who'd scored 28 points in a recent victory over Belhaven, fouled out late in the first half.

Kendall Stephens, relegated to a bench role for the team's last two games, led the Boilermakers with 18 points, all of which came on three-point attempts. Stephens was six-of-seven from beyond the arc in the game. Purdue hit nine threes on the evening.

"Coming off the bench, you just learn how to focus on attention to details. For me, it was just taking better shots. That's what my focus has been the last couple days," Stephens said. "The biggest thing Coach wants is when you get in there, just play hard, play team basketball. That's what the whole team does and that's what I was trying to do."

Purdue (8-2) will face the Vanderbilt Commodores (5-2) in Nashville this Saturday.