WEST LAFAYETTE — At one point during Saturday’s second half, New Mexico guard Cullen Neal looked at Johnny Hill and had a few telling words for the Purdue point guard.
“He said, ‘Man, y’all just too big,'” Hill said. “I just laughed. It’s a pretty good luxury to have.”
That “luxury” for the Boilermakers continues to be the center tandem of Isaac Haas and A.J. Hammons, with that duo pushing them to a 70-58 win over the Lobos at Mackey Arena. Hill also provided a spark for No. 11 Purdue (8-0), scoring 13 points.
Haas had 21 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes, doing most of his damage in the first half. Hammons had 16 points — 14 in the second half — 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in 19 minutes.
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“The game just comes to both of us,” Haas said. “If we just keep it simple, it just flows well. We’re able to get our shots, get to the line and it works for us.”
Haas and Hammons taxed New Mexico’s post players throughout the game. Starting center Obij Aget played just 10 minutes before fouling out for the Lobos (5-2), and backup Nikola Scekic picked up four fouls in 14 minutes.
The keys?
“Just get deep post position and make sure you go to your bread-and-butter,” Hammons said.
Haas, Hammons and Hill helped the Boilermakers overcome 19 turnovers, and a season-low 37.1 percent shooting performance that included 3-for-21 from 3-point range. Purdue outrebounded New Mexico 51-28.
The Boilermakers led by as many as 11 points in the first half, but the Lobos rallied to move ahead 39-35 with 14 minutes left in the game.
Kendall Stephens hit a 3-pointer before Hill forced a backcourt violation against Neal. Hammons’ 3-point play with 12:37 left jumped Purdue back into a 41-39 lead.
Hammons scored again after Hill drew a charge on Neal.
“Just the energy I had,” Hill said of his defensive contributions. “There’s a lot of weapons on this team. We have these two 7-footers, we have shooters, we have everything. I just want to try to bring something to the team, and a lot of times, it’s energy. I was able to do that in the second half, and wake us up.”
Still, Elijah Brown scored five straight points to grab a 44-43 lead for the Lobos. But Hammons answered with a hook to give the Boilermakers the lead for good with 11 minutes left.
Hammons’ putback stretched Purdue’s advantage to 56-48 with 4:43 left, and his five straight points made it 64-53 with 2:28.
“We feel like we have the best combo in the country when it comes to two guys playing one position getting 40 minutes,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
“There’s no letdown. We’re still trying to get them the basketball, we’re still trying to play through those guys and get them touches. … Both of those guys are giving us consistent play.”
Rapheal Davis missed his third straight game for the Boilermakers because of a sprained MCL. Especially without the reigning Big Ten defensive player of the year, New Mexico’s guards had productive games. Brown had 21 points, including 17 in the second half; and Neal had 16, including 13 in the first half.
But Purdue limited the Lobos to 38.9 percent shooting overall, well below their 48.0 percent entering the game.
“We didn’t play a pretty game at all on offense,” Hill said. “We had to rely on defense and getting these guys (Haas and Hammons) the ball to come out with this win.”
Twitter: @MichaelOsipoff