Zach Edey scored 18 points, Lance Jones added 15 and Braden Smith had 11 points and 11 assists to pace No. 3 Purdue to an 87-57 win against visiting Morehead State on Friday in West Lafayette, Ind.
Edey and Smith grabbed eight rebounds each for the Boilermakers. Smith finished two boards shy of the second triple-double in program history.
The Boilermakers (2-0) led by as many as 31 points against the Eagles (1-2) while showcasing their depth and quickness.
During a 7-0 run over 43 seconds early in the second half, Jones swished his team-high third trey and Camden Heide adjusted to lob pass from Smith that was slightly off-track to put in a layup instead of a dunk.
Riley Minix led Morehead State with 18 points, while Jordan Lathon followed with 12 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds.
The Eagles shot 34.3 percent (23-for-67) compared to 54.5 percent (30-for-55) for the Boilermakers.
Purdue opened the game on a 15-0 run and didn’t look back. Smith contributed seven points to the surge while Edey added four.
Morehead State missed its first five attempts from the floor and didn’t register its first points until Lathon drilled a 3 at the 15:23 mark of the first half.
Still, the Eagles remained afloat by keeping pace on the boards — where Purdue was a mere plus-four in the first 20 minutes — and watching as the Boilermakers struggled from deep. Purdue missed its final six 3-point attempts of the first half and took a 42-29 advantage into halftime.
Minix led all scorers with 16 points at the break on 7-for-11 shooting. Edey had 15 points and seven rebounds, while Smith chipped in nine points.
The teams shot a combined 5-for-25 from long range in the first half.
Ethan Morton (illness) missed the game for the Boilermakers.
Purdue improved to 3-0 against Morehead State all-time, prevailing on its home floor in each meeting. The schools hadn’t played since December 2016 after first squaring off in 1985.
–Field Level Media