GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 23 • 9
Vince Edwards 12
F • 6-7 • Fr.
Edwards is back up and running
again, but his return at Ohio State
didn't go so well, as he fouled
out in just 15 minutes. Purdue
really could have used the pe-
rimeter threat he provides late
in the game, when the Buckeyes
sagged off Smotherman to crowd Hammons. The
freshman means more offensively to Purdue than
he may be given credit for sometimes.
Kendall Stephens 21
G • 6-6 • So.
Matt Painter admits now that he
thinks finger and ankle issues
have derailed Stephens' season
to some extent, but also that he
never would have figured his
team to be capable of this sort of
success without the sophomore
taking a step forward this season. He hasn't, due
to circumstance probably, as he's too often been a
non-factor in Big Ten play. But there is basketball
left to play this season and no one's going to write
Stephens off for the balance of the year. You see
glimpses, like when he made three threes against
Rutgers.
Isaac Haas 44
C • 7-2 • Fr.
Haas isn't getting the minutes he
did earlier in the season because
Hammons is playing so well,
but he's impacting games in
the minutes he is getting, grab-
bing seven rebounds in just 15
minutes at Ohio State and going
for eight points and six boards in 20 foul-plagued
minutes against Rutgers. After a bit of a freshman
wall took hold midseason, Haas has gotten bet-
ter and is showing again how bright his future at
Purdue can be.
P.J. Thompson 3
G • 5-10 • Fr.
Bryson Scott has been Purdue's
No. 2 point guard the past few
games and that's moved Thomp-
son into very limited minutes
at both guard spots and that
doesn't project to change any
time soon. The Boilermakers need
Octeus on the floor as much as possible.
Bryson Scott 1
G • 6-1 • So.
Scott logged 15 important min-
utes off the bench at Ohio State
with Octeus in foul trouble and
held up OK at both ends. After
Purdue's late meltdown against
pressure vs. Rutgers, the Buckeyes
came after the Boilermakers, but
the visitors handled it well for the most part. All
of Purdue's guards, though, were affected in the
second half by the Buckeyes' increased pressure in
the halfcourt.
Jon Octeus 0
G • 6-4 • Sr.
Purdue needs the senior
point guard on the floor
as much as possible and
when he picks up ir-
relevant fouls and those
fouls pile up, like they did
at Ohio State, it's a dif-
ficult thing to overcome.
The player who showed up on campus two
weeks after preseason practice began has
been perhaps Purdue's most indispensable
player this season and should be recognized
for all he's meant to the Boilermakers this
weekend on senior day. It's not overstate-
ment to suggest he saved Purdue's season.
Dakota Mathias 31
G • 6-4 • Fr.
This was weird: Mathias is
making threes now after
struggling much of the
Big Ten season, but now
the Boilermakers' best foul
shooter is struggling at the
free throw line. The fresh-
man is 5-of-9 from 21 feet
out, 4-of-9 from 15 the past two games. That
said, Mathias is Purdue's best foul shooter
and we would not anticipate the latter to
become a trend. If the former becomes a
trend, that would be a huge shot in the arm
for a Boilermaker team that's shooting better
lately and badly needed to. They're 15-of-33
from long distance in the past 80 minutes of
game time.
A.J. Hammons 20
C • 7-0 • Jr.
Purdue couldn't get the
ball to Hammons in the
final minutes at Ohio
State. He didn't "disappear."
Give the Buckeyes some
credit there. The junior big
man's Big Ten season has
been beyond reproach.
He's been a first-team All-Big Ten type of
player and the driving force behind turning
around the Boilermakers' season and maybe
the overall direction of its program. The foul
shooting is maddening, though. He was 2-of-
5 at Ohio State. It's a matter of concentration
with him. Against Rutgers, Hammons ran
into his first real foul trouble in months and
played just 15 minutes. Purdue can't afford
that against a better opponent.
Rapheal Davis 35
F • 6-5 • Jr.
Ohio State was a mixed bag
for Davis. D'Angelo Russell
got the best of him on de-
fense, but the Boilermaker
wing gave Purdue a chance
with his shot-clock-beating
heroics oftentimes, includ-
ing a couple of the three-
pointers as part of his 15 points. Davis laid
down the gauntlet from a leadership perspec-
tive after Purdue's soft landing against Rutgers
with his spiel about being "embarrassed" and
that the Boilermakers "should have lost" after
the way they finished off that win. He has set
a high standard for a team that's met it more
often than not the past few months. But he
hasn't been exempt from some of Purdue's
struggles lately. He's turned the ball over eight
times in the last two games.
Basil Smotherman 5
F • 6-6 • So.
The sophomore forward
moved into the starting
five with Vince Edwards
affected by concussion
symptoms. The Rutgers
game was maybe the best
of Smotherman's career: 17
points on 6-of-7 shooting,
five rebounds, three assists and three steals
with no turnovers. But he has some offensive
limitations from a skill perspective, though
he can be a defensive upgrade over Edwards
under the right set of circumstances, but
Purdue needs both playing well.
Gold and Black's Men's Hoops Lineup
The
Starters
The
Reserves
The
Deep
Bench
Jacquil Taylor 23
F • 6-10 • Fr.
Neal Beshears 30
F • 6-7 • Sr.
Jon McKeeman 2
G • 6-1 • Jr.
Stephen Toyra 11
G • 6-3 • Jr.
–Brian Neubert
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