WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The IUPUI basketball team was worried about Purdue's overwhelming size coming into Sunday's nationally televised game at Mackey Arena on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 16). However, it was the Boilermakers' long range shooting that ultimately did the Jaguars in as the hosts downed IUPUI, 77-57. Purdue's Vince Edwards and Kendall Stephens combined to score 50 of the Boilers 77 points and hit 8-of-14 from three-point range in the win.

IUPUI (0-2) freshmen D.J. McCall and Leo Svete scored 14 each off the bench to lead the Jaguars.

"I'm proud of the guys effort," IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "We competed and kept coming at them. We really struggled at the beginning, but I think we did a good job of battling back the rest of the way. We showed a lot of heart and a lot of determination.

"We just made way too many turnovers or allowed them to get offensive rebounds or missed some assignments that came back to beat us. We're going to continue to work to get better though."  

IUPUI got off to a ragged start, falling into a 15-2 hole in the game's opening five minutes as Purdue blitzed the Jags from the opening tip, including a pair of early Stephens threes. Gardner went to the bench to get the Jaguars' going, turning to P.J. Boutte for offensive firepower. The reserves shouldered the load throughout, accounting for 34 of the team's 38 first half points and 44 points overall. Svete cut the Purdue lead to six at 24-18 with a wing three at the 7:43 mark, but Edwards answered with a trey at the other end. Later, IUPUI closed within five on a pair of McCall free throws, but Purdue scored four quick on a putback and a transition layup, prompting Gardner to call timeout. 

Ultimately, Purdue took a 48-38 lead to the break, largely behind Edwards' 19 first half points. 

Although Purdue (2-0) led by double-digits for most of the second half, IUPUI threw a late counter punch to keep the home fans in their seats until the final horn. Purdue's high flying point guard Jon Octeus made a pair of free throws after rebounding an Edwards miss with 6:49 remaining, putting the Boilers in front 65-54. On IUPUI's next possession, Boutte was called for an offensive foul near midcourt, seemingly deflating any IUPUI comeback hopes. 

However, Boutte atoned for the mistake by picking off the ensuing inbounds pass and sprinted the other way for a layup, which ultimately became a three-point play as Octeus bumped him from behind. IUPUI got a much needed defensive stand when Stephens missed a contested three, but Boutte misfired on a quick trey from the left wing that would've cut the lead to five. From there, Purdue closed the game with a 12-0 run as the Jaguars committed six turnovers and missed its final four field goal attempts, leading to the lopsided final tally.

Edwards pumped in a career-high 26 points and grabbed eight boards in the victory while Stephens provided a career-best 24 points, including 6-of-9 from downtown. Purdue's beefy frontline duo of A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas combined on 12 points and seven rebounds while the former also swatted four shots. 

For the second straight game, IUPUI had contributions from a number of players, beginning with the 14 each from McCall and Svete. Boutte added eight points, six assists and three steals off the bench while Aaron Brennan made his IUPUI debut with six points and five boards in 20 minutes of game action. IUPUI shot 41 percent from the field, while Purdue hit 50 percent and went to the foul line 31 times, connecting on 19. IUPUI was just 13-of-17 (76.5 percent) from the charity stripe.

Both DavRon Williams and Josh James added four points each, but were sidelined for much of the game due to foul trouble. Another IUPUI big man, Justus Stanback, fouled out in just 10 minutes of work as IUPUI was whistled for 32 personals.

"I think we've got a lot of guys who can play and we're showing that," Gardner said. "D.J., Aaron and Leo really gave us a lift off the bench. They give us a lot of versatility and create some matchup problems for our opponents. Fortunately, we're not going to play a lot of teams like Purdue in our league."

The loss dropped IUPUI to 0-1 all-time against Purdue and 0-3 in games at Mackey Arena. The Jaguars played a pair of games on Purdue's home court in 2002 as part of the Boilermaker Invitational.  

IUPUI will be back on the road on Wednesday (Nov. 19) when the Jaguars face Milwaukee as a return game from the 2012 BracketBusters event. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. Eastern from UWM Arena and the game will be seen on ESPN3. In addition, fans can listen live on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and the free iHeartRadio app as Morgan Adcock (pxp) calls the action from courtside.