Zach Edey had 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith each made four 3-pointers as No. 3 Purdue routed visiting Samford in a season-opening 98-45 win Monday night in West Lafayette, Ind.
Camden Heide scored 13 points for the Boilermakers (1-0), while Loyer and Smith chipped in 12 each.
Edey added four blocks to go with his 40th career double-double, the third most in school history, and Smith had seven assists.
Samford boasted a 9-4 edge in offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes, but the Bulldogs struggled with nearly everything else, trailing 51-17 at the break.
A 6-for-30 (20 percent) effort from the field in the first half included 1-of-16 woes from deep. The Bulldogs missed their first 13 3-point attempts and didn’t reach double figures as a team until Jaden Campbell swished a pullup jumper with 6:37 to go in the first half.
Purdue scored 21 of the game’s first 23 points and held Samford (0-1) without a field goal for the first 6:39.
Jaden Campbell scored 11 points for Samford, which returns nine players from last season’s team that earned a share of the Southern Conference regular-season title. Rylan Jones added eight points, while Achor Achor contributed six points and seven rebounds.
The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 34 points in the first half and 53 in the game. During one particularly rough stretch late in the first half, Samford allowed a long jumper to Mason Gillis before Smith stole the ensuing inbounds pass and drilled a trey from the right wing.
Thirteen of the 16 players to log minutes for Purdue scored. The Boilermakers shot 17-for-31 in the first half, including 9-for-16 from long range.
Purdue finished 54.8 percent from the floor with 16 treys. Samford was 25 percent from the field, including 5-for-31 from long range.
Purdue leads the all-time series with Samford 3-0, winning each meeting on its home floor.
–Field Level Media