Box Score
Purdue proved to be every bit worthy of its No. 10 national ranking as the Boilermakers rolled past the Titans on Friday night in Mackey Arena by a 82-50 decision.
It was the regular-season opener for both teams and, unfortunately for the Detroit faithful, spoiled Ray McCallum's official head coaching debut at UDM. Junior college transfer Thomas Kennedy fared slightly better, coming off the bench in his first game to pace the Titans with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Three Boilermakers scored in double figures led by E'Twaun Moore's 18 markers that tied him with Kennedy for game honors. JaJuan Johnson added 17 for Purdue, while Robbie Hummel chipped in 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Neither team started well, Detroit missing four of its first five shots and Purdue seven of its first nine. But it was the Boilermakers who recovered more quickly. After Kennedy nailed a three-pointer to pull the Titans within three, 11-8 with 12:09 left in the first half, the Boilermakers went to work. Taking advantage of Detroit turnovers – the plucky Titans were charged with 10 first-half miscues along while PU had only one – and used a 13-5 run to go up by 11 in a matter of a few minutes. Purdue – which has all five starters back from a 25-9 team – never let the Titans get closer than seven the rest of the evening.
“We're not going to see another team like this all year,” coach McCallum noted. “We've got to learn from this. We had some chances to cut it to nine or 10. We've got to recognize time and score and take advantage of our opportunities.”
Turnovers continued to plague the Titans throughout the night a they finished with 20 against just three by the home team. Detroit shot .327 from the field while the Boilermakers hit at a .438 clip. The Titans did hold an advantage on the glass, outrebounding Purdue 41-36 behind Kennedy's seven caroms and an equal number by point guard Woody Payne, who also contributed a game-high six assists.
Kennedy's scoring – he had six more points than any other Titan as Eulis Stephens ended up with a dozen – stood out in coach McCallum's mind.
“I thought TK's play on offense was what we've seen in practice and against Tiffin last week (in an exhibition game). He's got the green light from us,” McCallum noted. “He played with a lot of confidence and poise. He's a tremendous competitor, a talented player.”
Playing eight of their first 11 games away from home, the Titans will stay on the road Tuesday night in their next start as they head to Western Michigan. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. and the contest will be televised by Fox Sports Detroit in the first game of the Titans' 2008-09 TV package on FSD.
-Detroit Titans-
