Purdue Basketball: Boilermakers bring home silver from World University Games

The Purdue Boilermakers end a successful World University Championship exhibition tour with a silver medal.

The Purdue Boilermakers return home from their trip from Taipei, Taiwan feeling good about the prospects of the upcoming collegiate season after capturing a silver medal in the World University Games. Purdue, which was representing the U.S., fell to Lithuania 85-74 in the gold medal game on August 29. The Boilermakers went 9-1 during their 10 game August schedule, which included two victories over Canada.

Purdue battled hard in the championship game, but Lithuania’s bigs, led by Notre Dame senior center Martinas Gerben, proved to be too much for the much smaller Boilermakers. The Boilermakers typically use a three or four guard lineup.

“They were just quicker to the ball than us in the second half. We gave up way too many second-chances and we didn’t shoot the ball great,” head coach Matt Painter said. “You can still win games when you don’t shoot the ball well, but we didn’t do the things we needed to do to win a game like that. You have to tip your hat to Lithuania. They just played really hard.”

Purdue used a similar lineup a lot last season, but the Boilermakers had star sophomore Caleb Swanigan. Swanigan, who was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Draft, was a monster on the boards. Swanigan posted 13 double-doubles last year. As a result, he garnered first-team consensus All-America and Big Ten Player of the Year accolades. The 6’9″ power forward averaged 18.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game for the season. Thus, becoming the first person in 31 years to have at least 640 points, 430 rebounds, and 100 assists in a season since 1985-86.

Lithuania took advantage of an edge inside and out-rebounded Purdue 44-32. Lithuania also held an advantage in second chance points, 20-9, as they collected 17 offensive boards compared eight for Purdue.

Carsen and Vince Edwards led the way for Purdue combining for 39 points on 17-of-35 shooting (48.5%). Carsen Edwards struggled with his shot but still dumped in a game-high 23 points. Vince Edwards contributed 16 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting from the field (64%).

Purdue will likely rely heavily on 6’8″ senior forward Vince Edwards and 7’2″ senior center Isaac Haas on the interior this season. Edwards is a scorer who considers rebounding and defense a secondary area of concern. Haas is an effective rim protector when he stays out of foul trouble and moves his feet.

6’10” junior forward Jacquil Taylor, 6’9″ junior college transfer Eden Ewing, and 6’9″ freshman forward Aaron Wheeler also saw time in the Boilermakers’ frontcourt during the 10 game August exhibition series. However, none of the three made a real impact. 7’3″ redshirt freshman center Matt Haarms was ineligible as he is a Netherlands’ native.

Despite the loss, Purdue had an outstanding exhibition season. Purdue averaged 101.9 points a game in the 10 games while giving up just 76.0 points. Purdue faced some stiff competition in Canada, Argentina, Czech Republic, Israel, Serbia, and Lithuania.

Vince Edwards led the way for the Boilermakers, averaging 19.2 points a game on over 57 percent shooting from the field. Edwards, who knocked down 17-of-32 three-pointers (53.1%), also grabbed 7.2 rebounds a game. His best game came in the WUG semifinals against Serbia, pouring in 31 points, on 12-of-15 shooting including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Edwards, an NBA prospect, is the only active collegiate player to accumulate 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 boards and 100 three-pointers. The 2017 third team All-Big-10 selection contributed 12.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game last year.

Carsen Edwards also was impressive. The 6’0″ sophomore point guard demonstrated that he could thrive in transition and be a quality No. 2 scorer. Edwards averaged 16.8 points and 2.8 assists during the 10-game tour. He shot 42.2% from the field and 38.4% from beyond the arc.

Edwards had a fine freshman campaign last season, finishing in the top-10 in several categories on the school’s freshmen list. He averaged 10.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists for the season.

Haas also showed improvement from last year. Haas was extremely efficient as usual though he gave a glimpse that he could be more of a factor as a rim-protector and rebounder. He tallied 37 points, 20 rebounds, and blocked four shots in the two games against Canada.

During the exhibition tour, Haas averaged 11.6 points along with 6.9 boards and 1.6 blocked shots. He also shot an incredible 73% from the field (45-for-63).

Haas averaged 12.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per game in 2016-17. He ranks sixth on Purdue’s all-time list in field goal percentage.

Purdue went 27-8 last season and reached the Sweet 16 in 2016-17. The Boilermakers have earned an NCAA Tournament berth in each of the last three seasons. The Boilermakers have reached the Sweet 16 three times under Painter.

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