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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 13 • 2 over N.C. State, in a game in which the Boilermak- ers pitched a shutout over the final three minutes and 17 seconds. The Boilermakers' defense is a work in prog- ress as it's mixed in some zone but played primarily man-to-man. The zone didn't fare well in Purdue's lone loss, 88-79 to Kansas State, but its first-half defensive woes — the Wildcats led by 20 after 20 minutes — can also be linked to Hammons sitting out nearly the entire first half due to foul trouble, and the margin directly attributed to a rash of early turn- overs that put Purdue in too deep a hole before it rallied to score 55 second-half points. The Boilermakers were dominant defensively in a rout of Missouri, which shot less than 35 per- cent vs. Purdue and was pressed into 15 turnovers. Perhaps most notable of all, Purdue has shown in its past two outings it can win. A young team has never panicked. "They understand the game," Coach Matt Painter said of his freshmen specifically. "Getting in those moments, they've been in those moments. They play the right way." The BYU game could have gone either way and the Boilermakers trailed the Wolfpack with seven-and-a-half minutes to play. S Purdue's freshmen have delivered. Edwards and Haas have been sensations, two of the best rookies in the Big Ten if not all of college basketball to this point, while Mathias and Thomp- son have been critical contributors to a team that's showing signs of legitimate depth. j Big-Time Bookends Having two centers that complement one another is a rarity anywhere, not just in Purdue men's basketball history, but Isaac Haas and A.J. Hammons are off to a great start. Here's four of the most pro- ductive pairs of pivotmen who rarely, if ever, appeared on the court at the same time, in recent memory of Boilermaker basketball: 2014-15 Isaac Haas 12.0/5.4 A.J. Hammons 8.9/4.4 Combined 20.9/9.8 1986-87 Melvin McCants 12.1/5.5 Jeff Arnold 4.5/2.8 Combined 16.6/8.3 1976-77 Joe Barry Carroll 7.9/7.4 Tom Scheffler 8.0/4.8 Combined 15.9/12.2 1968-69 Chuck Bavis 5.5/4.8 Jerry Johnson 4.8/4.6 Combined 10.3/9.2 Hammons Haas