Purdue out hustled in loss to Fairleigh Dickinson 63 to 58
by: Steven Stremming
photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
The Purdue Boilermakers rolled into Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, home of the Bluejackets hockey club, as the number one seed in the region. Purdue left Nationwide, as only the second team in NCAA history to lose to a sixteenth seeded team. (Fairleigh Dickinson)
It was a historical let down, from the botched tip of the ball to the closing seconds, the Boilermakers seemed out of sync, and most of that was caused by the Knights ball hawking defense and the clear motivation of beating Purdue to loose balls all night long while the Boilers seemed to have butter on their fingers as balls escaped their grasp.
One of the biggest reasons in the loss for Purdue was cold shooting from behind the arc all evening long, demonstrated by their five of twenty-six effort (19.7%), which flatly isn’t going to cut it once the NCAA tournament begins.
The Knights on the other hand, were go-getters, as they outhustled the Boilermakers to loose balls, time after time in the waning moments of the game, creating another opportunity to score. In fact, the Knights created nine more shot opportunities than the Boilers. (62 to 53).
Turnovers was one of the key factors in the game as well, the Knights turned the ball over only nine times to Purdue’s sixteen.
Westfield, Indiana freshmen, Braden Smith was hounded from the start of the game to the end, with few respites in between, Smith connected on only two of ten field goal attempts and recorded seven turnovers.
Smith will get better, and all this game day and tournament experience will see him grow in the next coming years.
For the game, Fairleigh Dickinson was led by Columbus, Ohio native, junior Sean Moore led the Knights in scoring with 19 points on seven of seventeen from the floor, blocked two shots and recorded five rebounds.
photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
Mount Vernon, New York’s Demetre Roberts was a force on the floor for the Knights, with a quickness Purdue seldom had answers for as he scored twelve points, four rebounds and six assists.
photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
Sophomore Cameron Tweedy came on the bench and scored ten points on a five of six-shooting night and provided an instant energy boost.
photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
Zach Edey once again was the key figure for Purdue as the scored 21 points on seven of eleven from the paint and seven of ten from the charity stripe while recording another whopping 15 rebounds.
photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
Fletcher Loyer scored 13 points while Mason Gillis added ten to go along with his seven boards.
photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
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