Purdue def Grambling State 82-30
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Isaac Haas led a balanced Purdue attack with 17 points to help the Boilermakers beat Grambling State 82-30 on Thursday night.
Rapheal Davis made a three pointer on the game’s opening possession, and the Purdue lead expanded to 12-0 before the Tigers scored for the first time after 4:10 of action.
Grambling State (1-2) turned the ball over 15 times during the opening 20 minutes. The Boilermakers converted those 15 turnovers into 21 points.
Purdue also outscored the Tigers 20-4 in points in the paint before halftime, building a 37-15 advantage.
At one point in the first half, Grambling State had five points and 10 turnovers. Nine Boilermakers scored during the opening 20 minutes.
Kendall Stephens’ 3-pointer extended the Purdue lead to 44-17 with 16:31 remaining in the game. Dakota Mathias’ 3-pointer with 9:33 to play pushed the Boilermaker advantage to 35 — 58-23. Haas followed with a three-point play with 7:48 to go, and Purdue led 61-23.
The difference stretched to 40 63-23 on two Bryson Scott free throws at the 7:16 mark.
A.J. Hammons had seven rebounds and two blocked shots in the win.
The victory for Purdue now make them 13-1 all-time against schools based in Louisiana.
This was the Tigers’ first of three consecutive games in Indiana. Grambling State will play Monday at Ball State and then Wednesday at Notre Dame. Starting forwards Richard Freeman and Lonnie McElwain are native Hoosiers, each growing up in Indianapolis, 65 miles south of the Purdue campus … Freeman and Purdue’s Davis were AAU teammates as high school freshmen.
Tennessee def Texas Southern 70-58
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Josh Richardson scored 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds Thursday as Tennessee defeated Texas Southern 70-58 Thursday night from Thompson-Bowling Arena.
Texas Southern hung with Tennessee for much of the night and actually led 41-40 when Tonnie Collier’s 3-pointer capped an 8-0 run with 13:21 left. Tennessee went ahead for good on Punter’s 3-pointer with 12:14 remaining and eventually wore down the Tigers.
Kevin Punter added 13 points, Armani Moore scored 11 and Willie Carmichael had 10 for Tennessee. Punter and Richardson each shot 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
David Blanks scored 14 points, Deverell Biggs had 12 and Chris Thomas added 11 for Texas Southern (0-3).
But after losing its first two games by an average margin of 21.5 points, Texas Southern gave Tennessee plenty of troubles. The Vols didn’t take their first lead until 12 minutes into the game and were tied 30-30 at halftime. The game featured eight ties and seven lead changes before the Vols finally took control down the stretch.
The trip to Knoxville was part of a busy early itinerary for Texas Southern, which reached the NCAA tournament last season by earning the Southwest Athletic Conference’s automatic bid. Texas Southern is at home just once — Nov. 28 against Lamar — in its first 16 games.
Ole Miss def Southern 69-38
OXFORD, Miss. — Stefan Moody and LaDarius White scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, as Ole Mississippi defeated Southern 69-38 on Thursday night.
Southern never led in the contest and early on trying to fight off a 37-15 halftime deficit. They were unable to battle with offensive surges of 17-4 and 8-0. The Rebels, with 11 different players scoring at least one basket, led by as many as 32 points in the second half.
Adrian Rodgers scored 11 and Keith Davis added 10 points for Southern (1-2), which finished 14 of 50 (28 percent) from the field, including 1 of 11 from 3-point range.
The Rebels were 24 of 60 (40 percent) from the field, but converted 16 of 21 free throws, while Southern committed 22 turnovers and loss the rebounding battle 45-38.
Southern made just 9 of 17 from the free throw line.
Courtesy: SWAC.org
