#1 Purdue left little doubt that it was the best college basketball team in the Bahamas and the country after dismanting Texas Tech 86-56 to win another MTE tournament.
The game started with both offenses firing on all cylinders.
CJ Cox kept his hot streak going after scoring 19 the night prior by scoring 7 early points for Purdue, knocking down two mid-range pull ups and a catch and shoot three.
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For Texas Tech, Donovan Atwell hit his first three three-point attempts. 15 of Texas Tech’s first 18 points came from the three point line as it took an early 18-17 lead over #1 Purdue but couldn’t keep its hot shooting going.
It was all Purdue from there.
Omer Mayer hit a step back three coming off the bench for Purdue to give Purdue the lead back and then the nation’s #1 team and offense went nuclear.
Fletcher Loyer hit back to back three-pointers as part of a 20-3 run that gave Purdue a 40-23 lead in the first half.
Then Purdue kept scoring. Redshirt freshman Jack Benter would get a lay up on a drive and then Oscar Cluff would add a basket at the hoop to cap off a 20-0 Purdue run.
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Braden Smith would provide some deja vu for the nearly all black and gold crowd in the Bahamas, ending the first half the way he ended last night’s first half against Memphis, nailing a three-pointer.
Purdue would go into the locker room up 49-26.
It didn’t get any better for Texas Tech in the second half.
It wasn’t just Purdue’s offense that was rolling, its defense had two of the nation’s best players, JT Toppin and Christian Anderson, frustrated most the night.
Purdue’s physicality showed out as big man Oscar Cluff dominated the first minutes of the second half. Cluff had four straight offensive rebounds to start the half, and was rewarded with a behind the back bounce pass from Braden Smith for a dunk on an early Purdue possession. Then, Cluff did the work himself on the next possession, turning a miss into a two-hand put back dunk and Purdue a 57-26 lead just less than five minutes into the second half.
Purdue’s defense wasn’t far behind its offense, holding Texas Tech scoreless until the 14:31 mark in the second half.
By the time the Red Raiders scored its first second half basket, the game was already over.
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Purdue’s two All-Americans, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith, were good but took a back seat to Purdue’s well balanced attack. Kaufman-Renn had 12 points and 6 rebounds while Smith went for 10 points and 7 assists. Both well under their respective season averages.
Oscar Cluff played inspired defense against returning All-American Toppin, who was frustrated and out of sorts for most the game. Toppin finished the game with just 15 points on 13 shot attempts and 8 rebounds.
For Cluff, the Australian big man recorded his second double-double of the game. Cluff had 15 points and 15 rebounds in just 21 minutes of action.
Cluff was one of seven Purdue players who scored double-digits on Friday.
Christan Anderson came in averaging 9 assists a game, but Purdue’s defense and rotations were on point throughout the game and Anderson finished with 13 points on 5 of 15 shooting and a season-low 1 assist.
Purdue shot just 14 three point attempts but made 8 of them while Texas Tech was just 8 of 34 from three.
Purdue once again won the rebounding edge, out rebounding Texas Tech by 17.
On the second day of a back to back, no Boiler had to play more than 28 minutes.
With wining the Baha Mar Hoops Championship, Purdue has won five straight MTE tournaments.
