On paper, it was the game of the weekend: a top-15 matchup between two teams led by the reigning conference players of the year. In reality, it was lopsided than most buying games.
Final score: Purdue 86, Texas Tech 56.
The Boilermakers led by 23 points at halftime, increased that advantage to 33 after intermission and won the game by 30 points. It was as dominant a performance as anyone has put in against a ranked opponent this season. For the game, Purdue shot 59% from the field and 57% from three-point range. At one point, the Boilermakers were on a rare-in-basketball run of 20-0.
“They didn’t score for a while to start the second half, and Oscar [Cluff] just gets every rebound, and that’s demoralizing for the other team when they’re struggling, and now they can’t get a second chance,” Purdue coach Matt Painter explained.
The win puts Purdue at 6-0, with two wins over the top-35 KenPom.com teams, and remains second in Saturday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 and 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Arizona remains No. 1 for the third straight day. Arizona is 5-0, but the Wildcats have mostly had better wins three wins from top20 KenPom teams, namely UConn, Florida and UCLA.
If you need an explanation as to why I have Arizona ahead of Purdue, that’s it. But here’s a prediction: On Monday, I’m assuming the Boilermakers will maintain their No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 poll after their 30-point defeat of Texas Tech. And while that obviously wouldn’t be in line with the Top 25 and 1, to be clear, I have no problem with it whatsoever. Purdue is great, and there’s nothing foolish or out of place about the Boilermakers being somewhere in first place, even though, yes, it’s pretty clear at this point that Arizona has the best body of work in the sport.
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Now back to Purdue.
In addition to dominance and excellence, the Boilermakers showed real poise against Texas Tech. With just over 11 minutes remaining and the score 61-36, Purdue’s five starters had the following point totals:
By the time it was over, seven different Boilermakers had scored in double figures. Cluff, the transfer from South Dakota State, led everyone with 15 points and 15 rebounds, seven of which were offensive. Two more offensive rebounds and he would have matched Texas Tech’s total in the game.
Top 25 and 1 rankings
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