No. 18 Purdue starts strong, blows away Cleveland State

(AP) Isaac Haas scored 14 points, Caleb Swanigan had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Dakota Mathias added 12 points on four 3-pointers, leading No. 18 Purdue to a 77-53 victory over Cleveland State on Saturday.

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The Boilermakers (8-2) finished the first half on a 12-0 run to lead 41-20 and never were threatened thereafter, leading by as many as 27 points in the second half.

Bobby Word had 14 points to lead Cleveland State (3-6), which shot only 26.7 percent (8 of 30) during the pivotal first half.

Vince Edwards added 11 points for the Boilermakers, who have won each of their past three games by at least 24 points.

BIG PICTURE

Cleveland State: The Vikings, who came to Purdue having won two in a row, stayed close for a while by making seven 3-pointers in the first 24:04 but had no answer for Purdue's 7-2 Haas and 6-8 Swanigan.

Purdue: The Boilermakers once again featured a solid blend of interior and perimeter scoring to win for the seventh time in the past eight games. Purdue entered this game shooting 44.8 percent from 3-point range – second best nationally – and shot 43.8 percent from beyond the arc in the first half Saturday.

UP NEXT

Cleveland State: The Vikings play on Dec. 17 at Ohio University.

Purdue: The Boilermakers will play No. 23 Notre Dame on Dec. 17 in Indianapolis' Bankers Life Fieldhouse.