November 13, 1998
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Purdue's best offense against North Carolina-Asheville turned out to be defense.
The No. 16 Boilermakers' full-court pressure forced North Carolina-Asheville into 31 turnovers as Purdue sailed past the Bulldogs 101-64 in an opener Friday night.
Under pressure, North Carolina-Asheville committed 10 turnovers in its first 11 possessions and failed to make a basket in the first six minutes.
Jaraan Cornell led Purdue with 20 points, 14 in the first half, and Mike Robinson added 15. Cameron Stephens and Jamaal Davis each added 11 points for the Boilermakers and Gary McQuay finished with 10.
"I thought we played hard," Purdue coach Gene Keady said. "Our press was pretty effective. The first 15 minutes we were pretty good with helping and being active."
"Purdue has very good players, and our players have to learn to play at their intensity level," Bulldogs coach Eddie Biedenbach said. "We toughened up tonight and grew up a lot."
Purdue jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes behind 3-pointers from Cornell and Brian Cardinal. Cornell started the run and Cardinal's 3-pointer made it 10-0 with 17:19 left in the half.
Kevin Martin, who led North Carolina-Asheville with 22 points, made two free throws with 15:54 remaining to cut the deficit to 10-2.
The Boilermakers then went on a 17-6 run, taking a 27-8 lead on Cornell's 3-pointer with 7:21 left in the first half.
The Bulldogs used 13-of-14 shooting from the line to close to 38-29 with 1:00 left in the half.
Aided by a technical foul, Purdue scored the final seven points in the first half on a 3-pointer and two free throws by Cornell and Davis' dunk with one second remaining.
Purdue outscored the Bulldogs 9-2 in the first two minutes of the second half to lead 54-31. Cornell had two layups and a dunk and Alan Eldridge nailed a 3-pointer.
The Boilermakers led by at least 23 thereafter.