Purdue rolls Central Michigan as Chippewas prepare for conference play
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Mackey Arena's tunnel features a railroad track on the floor and the phrase "Full Steam Ahead" on the wall.
The team which plays in Mackey Arena, Purdue, went full steam ahead and rolled the Central Michigan men's basketball team, 97-62, on Saturday.
CMU (7-6) struggled mightily to shoot the ball as it shot 22-58 (38%) from the field and 3-22 (14%) from 3-point range.
Conversely, the Boilermakers shot 37-68 (54%) from the floor and 14-32 (44%) from beyond the arc to earn the 35-point win.
The Chippewas capped off a four-game road trip with four losses to Valparaiso, Texas, Robert Morris and Purdue.
Coach Keno Davis said the experience his team has racked up through the nonconference slate has been valuable to help with the Chippewas' conference season.
"We've gotten good experience with the road games," Davis said. "It's good in-game experience for us, we're trying to be a better team on both the offensive end to make extra passes and share the ball and defensive end to be sound with both our man and zone defenses."
As students are taking the holiday break, the Chippewas were able to take a break, as well, during the holidays when some teams may not have that opportunity.
Davis said it was nice to have a break and have his team come back fresh after playing three-straight road games.
"We're coming back fresh with the break," Davis said. "Maybe not with the practice time we needed to prepare for a game with Purdue, but we're looking beyond this game at more important things.
"While it's disappointing on one day, hopefully, the days off will help us down the stretch."
In the 35-point loss at Purdue, the Chippewas made several mistakes in the first half by committing 14 turnovers, which the Boilermakers scored 13 points off of.
CMU finished the game with 22 turnovers and allowed 21 points from those miscues.
"Credit to Purdue, they're a really good defensive team," said senior forward David DiLeo. "They got in some lanes and forced some turnovers, maybe made us rush a little on some shots. That affected our offense both shooting and the number of turnovers we had."
Purdue's ability to capitalize on CMU mistakes allowed the hosts to pull away quickly in the first half. The Boilermakers led, 51-21, after the first 20 minutes.
Sasha Stefanovic led Purdue with 23 points and hit six 3-pointers while shooting 7-of-10 from the field. He was one of five Boilermakers to score in double digits.
While CMU struggled to shoot the ball, three Chippewas finished in double figures. DiLeo and fellow senior forward Rob Montgomery had 12 and 10 points, respectively, while junior guard Travon Broadway Jr. also scored 10 points.
DiLeo, who shot 4-of-9 from the field and 0-of-3 from beyond the arc, said while his team fell short of where they wanted to be, there is still a lot of room -- and time -- to grow.
"We wanted to come in here and compete and win the game," DiLeo said. "I think we did some good things, especially in the second half. Our attitude is to come back, have a great week of practice and get ready for MAC season."
Davis said while the loss to Purdue was difficult, it was important to be tested -- especially on the road -- before the conference season.
"As we look back at it, hopefully, we've seen a lot of different styles," Davis said. "We've really been tested on the road. While we haven't come out on the right side of things, the whole point of the nonconference schedule is to make you a better team."
Looking ahead to the conference schedule itself, Davis said there was a lot of turnover of strong players in the MAC, yet there is a lot of talent throughout the conference, too.
However, Davis said he has not seen a lot from any of the teams in the MAC, mainly just scoreboard watching. But, the coach is eager and confident to get MAC play started.
"I think there's not a team we can't match up with and play with," Davis said. "It'll be good to start the conference season and know each game really matters for the seeding in the conference tournament."
CMU scored the game's first points and looked to keep up with Purdue early in the first half.
Then, the Boilermakers went on a 32-11 run over the last 12:46 to close the first half.
"They got hot and put it on us," DiLeo said. "But I thought we responded well. The score wasn't too close but we still competed in the second half and still played hard all 40 minutes."
Davis, when referring to his team, typically says it is not quite a finished product and the best time to be a finished product is in March.
After the loss to Purdue, DiLeo said the same thing. But the team is working on becoming a finished product and potentially a similar makeup of the 2018-19 team.
DiLeo said he described last year's team as gritty. The Chippewas, last season, were able to grind out a lot of wins and compete in games many people thought they would lose big.
Former guard Shawn Roundtree Jr. and Larry Austin Jr. were a big part of that team's grit.
While those two are gone, DiLeo said much of the mentality his teammates had last season resides in his teammates now.
"We lost two really gritty players but we still have that," DiLeo said. "We know each and every night in the MAC is a dogfight so we'll just continue to work hard and improve and hopefully we'll be playing our best ball in March."
One of two junior transfer guards Davis brought in, Devontae Lane, was held out of Saturday's game with an undisclosed injury.
Davis said it was tough to not have Lane but it allowed other players to play in a hostile environment against a strong team like the Boilermakers.
Like the game itself, Davis said he was looking ahead to conference play to decide whether Lane would play or not.
"He was a scratch about two minutes before the game started," Davis said. "Hopefully he comes back healthy by the time conference season comes around and hopefully making the decision to not play pays off with his health down the road."
