Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Purdue 81, No.Carolina A&T 40
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, November 13, 2015
Where: Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana
Officials: # Bill Ek, # Bart Wegenke, # Gerald Williams
Attendance: 12623

Purdue placed six in double figures, getting 14 each from guards Rapheal Davis and Kendall Stephens, and the No. 23 Boilermakers rolled to an 81-40 season-opening victory against North Carolina A&T on Friday night in the Naismith Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic.

The Boilermakers, who have 7-foot-2 sophomore Isaac Haas, 7-foot senior A.J. Hammons and 6-9 freshman McDonald's All-American Caleb Swanigan, faced a 2-3 zone during a first half in which Purdue made eight 3-pointers in 20 attempts.

Purdue finished 12 of 30 from 3-point range while the Aggies were 0 of 15 from beyond the arc and only 14 of 58 overall (24.1 percent).

Hammons, Purdue's leading returning scorer at 11.9 points a game, did not play. He also did not play in a Nov. 8 exhibition game. Coach Matt Painter has not elaborated on the reason for the early season benching, Painter has said Hammons "has to take care of some things," which in the past has meant academic-related issues when the coach uses that phrase.

Freshman guard Ryan Cline added 13 for Purdue, Haas had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Swanigan and Vince Edwards each scored 11. Swanigan had 11 rebounds.

North Carolina A&T took an early 4-0 lead and trailed only 10-8 with 11:44 remaining in the opening 20 minutes before Purdue began a 34-8, half-closing blitz that included six of those eight 3-pointers for a 44-16 advantage at intermission.

Stephens had 12 of his 14 points during the first half, and Rapheal Davis added 10 of his 14.

Purdue improved to 10-1 in openers during Painter's 11 seasons in West Lafayette.

Forward Bruce Beckford led the Aggies with nine points.
Top Game Performances
 
No.Carolina A&T   Purdue
Bruce Beckford 9 Scoring Rapheal Davis 14
Bruce Beckford 2 Assists Johnny Hill 5
Bruce Beckford 5 Rebounds Caleb Swanigan 11
Bruce Beckford 7 Free Throws Made Isaac Haas 6
Bruce Beckford 1 Steals Johnny Hill 2
Steven Burrough 1 Blocks Isaac Haas 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
No.Carolina A&T 40 24.1 0-15 12-18 5 27 1 5 12
Purdue 81 45.3 12-31 21-32 21 45 8 4 10