Braden Smith's near triple-double leads Purdue basketball over Texas Southern

WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue basketball's Maui Invitational hangover didn't happen.

The top-ranked Boilermakers did what the No. 1 team in the country is supposed to do against a winless team on its home floor.

Purdue (7-0) opened Wednesday on a 13-0 run and went on to bury an inferior Texas Southern squad 99-67 at Mackey Arena.

Braden Smith led Purdue with 19 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

It was over when

Let's be honest. Texas Southern was never going to win this game. But when Purdue scored the game's first 13 points in a four minute span, that assured things.

Give the winless Tigers credit for playing close to even the rest of the first half. Texas Southern hit five first half 3s.

Back-to-back 3s from Lance Jones early in the second half sealed the Tigers' fate.

3 stars

Braden Smith, Purdue: Smith keeps flirting with that triple-double. In 16 first-half minutes Tuesday, Smith produced 15 points, four assists and four rebounds. Smith subbed out with 10:32 to go and never returned despite the crowd's constant chants to let him go for a triple-double. Smith came one rebound shy of being the second player in program history with a triple-double (Joe Barry Carroll vs. Arizona in 1977).

Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue: He's supposed to be an offensive addition alongside Edey. It's why he's in the starting lineup. Kaufman-Renn scored 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting, including a 3-pointer, and had five rebounds.

Lance Jones, Purdue: The Boilermaker spark plug did it again with four 3-pointers, the last one igniting a midcourt dance after Texas Southern's bench was assessed a technical foul. Jones scored 15 points, making 4 of 5 3s.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.