No. 8 Purdue will face one of many Huge Ten’s most harmful unranked squads Sunday afternoon when convention foe Maryland visits West Lafayette, Ind.
The Terrapins (8-1, 1-0) coasted by means of their non-conference schedule earlier than overwhelming Ohio State 83-59 of their Huge Ten opener Wednesday in Faculty Park, Md., for his or her fifth straight victory.
Maryland dominated the Buckeyes from the opening tip, surging to a 50-17 halftime lead and pushing the margin to 40 factors early within the second half.
“(We wished to) come out and make an announcement,” mentioned Terrapins reserve ahead Tafara Gapare, who completed with 12 factors on 5-of-7 capturing from the ground. “Inform individuals who we’re and what we’re doing this season.”
Up to now, the Terrapins have been doing what they struggled to do final yr: Put up factors.
Maryland has averaged 86.8 factors per sport throughout non-conference play this season, up from 72.2 a yr in the past. The Terrapins’ 83 factors on Wednesday have been greater than they scored in any of their 21 Huge Ten video games final season.
“We expect it ought to appear to be that night-in and night-out, however it won’t, so we’re simply going to maintain enjoying exhausting and attempt to make it appear to be that,” guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie mentioned.
Gillespie led Maryland with 23 factors and drilled 4 3-pointers on Wednesday. The Belmont switch averages 13.7 factors per sport, second on the workforce behind freshman Derik Queen (16.6).
Gapare is capturing 16-of-23 (69.6 p.c) over his final three video games after taking simply 9 photographs throughout his first six video games.
The Boilermakers (7-2, 0-1), in the meantime, have been on the incorrect finish of an announcement win Thursday, falling 81-70 at Penn State. Purdue dedicated 24 turnovers, its most in a sport since November 2019. These errors led to 32 factors by the Nittany Lions.
“We had guys driving to their weak hand after they should not be, we had guys catching the ball within the publish and simply being unfastened with the basketball,” Boilermakers coach Matt Painter mentioned. ” … We simply need to have a greater focus and a greater toughness about us.”
Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer paced Purdue with 15 factors apiece. They lead the Boilermakers with averages of 18.7 and 13.9 factors per sport, respectively.
Braden Smith, who’s third on the workforce in scoring at 12.0, was held to 6 factors.
Thursday’s outcome was not fairly a stunner — Penn State additionally has established itself as one of many Huge Ten’s most harmful groups — however Painter had no persistence for Purdue’s effort stage as the sport grew out of hand.
“If we have been on the entrance line of a battle (on Thursday), we might all be useless,” he mentioned. “Our battle wasn’t even near Penn State’s battle.”
The loss additionally was a step again for a Boilermakers workforce that seemed as if it had discovered its kind after a productive non-conference slate. Purdue toppled then-No. 2 Alabama on Nov. 15 and added a win over then-No. 23 Ole Miss two weeks later.
“Success will mess with you,” Painter mentioned. “Failure is one thing {that a} aggressive particular person all the time responds to. However are you able to compete (and) focus after you have had some success right here and never let that weaken you? ” … I’ve to do a greater job of getting them prepared.”
–Subject Degree Media
