Basketball Recap - CBI First Round: Purdue 81 - Western Illinois 67

In what was supposed to be one of the lowest scoring games in NCAA and surely CBI history, Purdue and Western Illinois shocked the world (or at least the 5,000 people watching the game in person or on tv) by putting up a combined 148 points.

The Leathernecks, missing their top 2 players put a scare in Purdue early by starting on fire from the field, scoring 32 points in the first 14 minutes of the game.  In that time period, bench player Don McAvoy III did his best "Roy 'Tin Cup' McAvoy after 11 strokes" impression and drained everything for a quick 10 points.  Meanwhile, Remy Roberts-Burnett had 11 as both players were already above their season average.  Luckily the Leathernecks went cold allowing the Boilermakers to take the lead by halftime - a lead Purdue wouldn't give up.

Purdue had gone 1 for 4 in the first half from 3-point range, but went a blistering 6 for 7 in the second half to really take control.  Byrd hit three in the first 8 minutes and the ONLY missed 3-pointer happened in the last minute from Jacob Lawson (!). 

Both teams put up some shocking numbers considering both typically try to slow the game down. Western Illinois played two games this year in which neither team scored 40 points (WITH their two best players!).  Clearly, 50% shooting and 67 points was an anomaly.  However, thank goodness the Boilermakers were on fire, as this had the potential of being an embarrassing loss - Purdue shot 59% from the field, 64% from three-point range, and 92% from the free throw line.   If the Boilermakers can put up that sort of effort on the offensive end for the rest of the tourney, Purdue will be your 2013 CBI champs.

No love for Dru Anthrop's excellent game in this post, so here's a picture of one of his four assists

Next up is Santa Clara, which is NOT on AXS tv.  AXS's graphics and announcers made it feel like it was a high school game on public access tv (how many ways can you botch Sandi Marcius' name?), but at least it was free to many fans around the country.  Unfortunately, the next game is on BTDN, meaning you have to pay to watch it.  We'll let you know more in our preview, but if you're in the area, you might as well spend your money getting a ticket to the game.  Santa Clara's a good team and it should be a good basketball game.

Boiler Up!

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