WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Isaac Haas scored 14 points and Dakota Mathias finished with 13 on Wednesday night to help No. 13 Purdue pull away from Rutgers 82-51.
The Boilermakers (14-2, 3-0 Big Ten) have won 10 straight overall and 17 consecutive home games.
Geo Baker had 11 points to lead the Scarlet Knights (10-6, 0-3), who have lost three straight. Mike Williams added 10.
Purdue made it look easy against the nation’s fourth-best scoring defense.
It shot 49.1 percent from the field, went 10-of-23 on 3-pointers, seized control quickly and never let Rutgers become a serious threat again.
The biggest difference was 3-point shooting, especially early when Purdue was 7-of-12 in the first half. The Scarlet Knights missed their first seven from beyond the arc and couldn’t break up the shutout until Baker knocked down a 3 with 13:27 left in the game to cut the deficit to 51-37.
And the Boilermakers took full advantage. They used an 8-0 run to take a 17-7 lead, later extended the margin to 32-17 and headed to the locker room with a 45-24 lead.
Things didn’t get much better in the second half.
After Rutgers closed the deficit to 14, Purdue answered with six straight and led by as much as 33.
Big picture
Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights are improving but they don’t possess the size, depth or scorers to seriously challenge a team like Purdue. And when things went awry Wednesday, Rutgers even lost its poise. With nine freshmen and sophomores on the roster, brighter days are ahead.
Purdue: The defending Big Ten champs showed everyone why they’re capable of repeating this season. They can win games by going big or small, defending well and are capable of playing through foul trouble. And when 3-pointers are falling, the Boilermakers are virtually untouchable.
Key numbers
Rutgers: Freshman Mamadou Doucoure scored eight points before fouling out with 12:55 to go and then picked up a technical on his way to the bench. ... The Scarlet Knights have only allowed four opponents to score more than 70 points. ... Rutgers has lost seven straight in the series with five of the last six coming by double digits. ... The last time the Scarlet Knights beat a Top 25 team on the road was Jan. 26, 2008 at Pittsburgh.
Purdue: Carsen Edwards had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists while Ryan Cline had 12 points and Vincent Edwards added 10. ... Purdue is off to its first 3-0 start in conference play since 2010-11 and improved to 13-0 on American soil this season. It went 1-2 in the Bahamas. ... The Boilermakers have scored at least 80 points in six straight games for the first time since Dec. 6-27, 1997.
Up next
Rutgers: Will try to rebound Friday when it hosts Wisconsin.
Purdue: Closes out a four-game home stand Saturday against Nebraska.