In their last home game of the calendar year, the Purdue men's basketball team hosted the Belmont Bruins, who sat at 9-1 overall and at the top of the Ohio Valley Conference.
A 14-3 run early in the first half opened up a lead for Purdue and they never looked back on their way to a 73-62 victory.
Belmont had major struggles in the first half putting the ball into the basket, shooting just 30-percent from the field. But the Bruins put together a 17-2 run late in the second half, using full court pressure which forced several turnovers and closing the deficit.
The Boilermaker bench outscored their opponents 35-11 with all players for Purdue who saw playing time entering the scoring column. Center Matt Haarms led the second squad with 12 points and 8 rebounds. Starting guard Carsen Edwards notched 24 points and grabbed five boards. Kevin McClain scored 21 points for the Bruins, which led the team.
Purdue starting guard Ryan Cline continued an up-and-d0wn season, regressing from his preformance against Ohio University by missing all five of his 3-point attempts and shooting only 1-8 from the field.
Purdue (8-5) finished its non-confrence play with this win and begins the Big Ten regular season in earnest when the 24th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes come to Mackey Arena on January 3.
