The fact that the Purdue men's basketball team had not played in almost a week was all too evident in the early minutes of their game against the visiting Nebraska Cornhuskers Saturday.
The 15th-ranked Boilermakers missed passes and had trouble finding a rhythm in the first half, and led by just two at the break.
It wasn't until a 14-2 run during a four-minute stretch early in the second half that the team could open up a significant lead. Once they did so they rode it all the way into a 19-point victory in front of a sold out Mackey Arena.
Nebraska kept the game interesting, making 15 three pointers, five of which where knocked down by guard Thomas Allen, who finished with 18 points. Allen missed just one of his six attempts from three point land on the night.
While Carsen Edwards scored a game high 27 points and Nojel Eastern recorded another double-double for Purdue, chants of MVP were shouted for senior forward Grady Eifert. Eifert scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds -- four of which were offensive -- all while not missing a shot from the field or the free throw line (4-4 from the field and 6-6 from the line).
Purdue currently sits in a tie for first place in the Big Ten with Michigan (which defeated Wisconsin Saturday) with eight games left to play.
Purdue will travel to Maryland Tuesday to face the 24th-ranked Terrapins.
