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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 3 59 3 CARSEN EDWARDS Guard • Sophomore The sophomore has emerged as the leading scorer this season for a Purdue team with a bunch of candidates for that title, and has impressively done so on increased efficien- cy over last season. Aggressiveness is his game, and sometimes that comes with some turbulence, but the highs have outnumbered the lows. Edwards is shooting 50 percent from floor in averaging 17.4 points through 16 games. He's shooting 37 percent from three, but trending up, and has given Purdue a real weapon in transition and off the dribble in the halfcourt. 11 P.J. THOMPSON Guard • Senior It's been typical Thompson this season — strong defense at the point, solid de- cision-making and pin-point three-point shooting, a team-best 48-and-a-half percent through the first 16 games. Nobody held themselves more accountable after Purdue's disappointments at the Battle 4 Atlantis, and the Boilermakers' season may have turned on a dime then and there. 12 VINCENT EDWARDS Forward • Senior Purdue's win over Rutgers marked at least the third time this season Purdue's crucial senior forward was limited by foul problems, an issue it'll want cleared up moving forward, because he's too valuable to not have on the floor 30-plus minutes in games that matter. The preseason All-Big Ten choice has delivered the best rebounding season of his career — 8.5 per game thus far — when Purdue needed it most. And he's making 40 percent of his threes while averaging 13.6 points for this tremendously balanced Boilermaker team. 31 DAKOTA MATHIAS Guard • Senior Despite currently being his team's fourth-lead- ing scorer — for whatever that's worth — the senior might be Purdue's foremost first-team All-Big Ten candidate to this point, as he's averaging 13-and-a-half points on a team-high 30-plus minutes, shooting 49 percent from the floor as a jump-shooting guard and shooting an outstanding 45.6 percent from three-point range. And he remains maybe the top wing de- fender in the Big Ten, maybe the conference's best two-way backcourt player. 44 ISAAC HAAS Center • Senior Logging career-high minutes and handling them well, Haas has been very good during Purdue's 10-game winning streak in particu- lar. For the season, he's shooting 63 percent from the floor and 78 percent from the foul line while drawing a high volume of whis- tles, per usual. He's been a more productive rebounder and better decision-maker this season. There are defensive limitations, but backup Matt Haarms' length and mobility have helped offset some of those concerns. Boilermaker Lineup Starters — Brian Neubert