WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (NWN) – Sasha Stefanovic scored 5 of 6 3-pointers and finished with 23 points to lead Bellarmine 96-67 to No. 7 Purdue on Tuesday night.
Zach Eddy added 16 points, Isaiah Thompson 15 points, Brandon Newman 14 and Jaden Ivey 11 for the Boilermakers.
CJ Fleming and Dylan Penn scored 14-14 points for Bellarmine.
The Boilers, who scored 16 points out of 34 3, took a 36-point lead in the second half. Purdue scored 50% for the game while the Knights held for 41%.
Purdue started the game 19-3 and took a 40-23 lead. The Boilermakers led 50-37 at the half.
big picture
Purdue: The Boilermakers have won nine consecutive openers averaging 28 points and are 16-1 in openers under Matt Painter.
Bellarmine: The Knights is in its second season in Division I and isn’t afraid to play the big boys. Last year he opened against Duke and this season he will play No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 UCLA on consecutive nights next week.
Tip-ins
Purdue will be back in full force after Mason Gillis’s four-game suspension plays two more games, including the team’s exhibition. Gillis, a sophomore forward who started 23 games last season, was arrested in June for drunken driving. … Purdue announced before the game that it plans to recast Trey Kaufman-Ren and Brian Waddell.
election effect
The boilermakers increased their No. 7 ranking, possibly with an impressive performance in the second half.
next:
Bellarmine visits the Murray State on Saturday.
Purdue hosts Indiana State on Friday.
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