Duncan shines, but Purdue rolls Vermont

Purdue center Isaac Haas (44) shoots over Vermont forward Ethan… Purdue’s 18 3-pointers is a school record, besting the 16 the Boilermakers made on February 7, 1998, in a Big Ten victory at Ohio State. Coach Matt Painter has not announced any details surrounding Hammons, who scored a team-high 11.9 points per game last season.

Vince Edwards’ 3-pointer from the left wing with 8:27 remaining broke the record and extended the Purdue lead to 91-64. After a slow start, Purdue emphatically passed it. With six players in double figures spread across the floor, the Boilermakers rolled to an 81-40 victory over the Aggies in front of 12,623 at Mackey Arena on Friday night.

As for the Duncan brothers, redshirt-freshman, Ernie, led all scorers with 18 points, including three 3’s.

Purdue raced to a 17-4 lead only 5:40 into the game and was never seriously threatened, enjoying a 60-45 halftime lead.

The Boilermakers’ aggressive man-to-man defense limited the Aggies to 6-of-26 shooting (23.1 percent) in the first half, including 0 of 7 from beyond the arc. Hammons is neither injured nor in trouble with law enforcement.

Without Hammons, Haas (12-10) and Swanigan (11-11) earned double-doubles in points and rebounds. The benching is not expected to be prolonged.

Other than the low amount of points scored in the paint, the only other negative to Purdue’s game was their turnovers. Painter continues to reiterate that Hammons needs to work on a few things before he earns his way back onto the court, but decrypting that message has yet to be done. The Boilermaker bench played 88 minutes without committing a turnover. North Carolina A&T didn’t take many strong shots from there, making just 14 of 58 overall, including an 0-for-15 performance from 3-point range.

“Look at the stats, ” Stephens said.

Hammons chose to return to Purdue for his senior season, foregoing the National Basketball Association draft in hopes of increasing his draft stock, but by not being able to play in games and the team succeeding without him, Hammons may be hurting his own future more than the team’s current season. In 17 minutes of action, Cline went 4-of-7, including 4-of-6 from three-point range and 1-of-2 from the line to finish with 13 points. Purdue is 35-1 in November home games during Painter’s 11 seasons at his alma mater.

Vermont: Purdue honored Catamounts recruit Josh Speidel of Columbus, Indiana, in a touching pregame ceremony.