WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. – The Jacksonville men's basketball team fell 100-57 to the top team in the country, Purdue, on Thursday night.

Robert McCray V dropped 22 points, and Stephon Payne III had a game-high 10 rebounds, but the Dolphins (8-5) were unable to take down the Big 10 giants on their home court.

The Boilermakers showcased early on why they are currently ranked No. 1 in the country by the Associated Press as they sank seven of their first nine tries to take an early 17-9 lead over the Dolphins just five minutes into the game. The Jacksonville offense began to heat up after the first media timeout, complementing the fact that JU had the early edge through 13 minutes in the rebound department. After the Boilermakers' Myles Covin missed one of two free throws, which extended the Purdue lead to 14, Robert McCray V made a tough layup to respond with just under nine minutes in the half. A missed triple the other way, which resulted in a Jarius Cook three, led to a Deejuan Pruitt three, and the Dolphins were within nine as the under-eight media timeout took effect. The newfound momentum saw Stephon Payne III block an attempt by the 2022 National Player of the Year in Zach Edey, and a slam dunk by Payne on the other end had JU down just seven.

Purdue's offense, which entered Thursday ranked 16th in points per game, began to reawaken as the half wore on. Purdue finished the half on a 16-5 run to see the score at 45-27. The Dolphins' first-half effort shouldn't go unnoticed, though, as they nabbed five steals and an additional 17 rebounds against a team that ranks in the top 20 in rebounds per game.

In the second half, Purdue carried over its momentum from the first half, and the shooting accuracy from the end of the first half followed. The Boilermakers opened the first seven minutes on a 22-7 run, which saw their lead extend to 35. McCray then scored seven consecutive JU points in response, which saw the transfer sophomore heat up for the remainder of the game. McCray didn't miss a single try in five attempts in the second half and shot 65% overall on the night.

The remainder of the game saw AP No. 1 Purdue finish on a 30-14 run in the final 10-plus minutes, thus securing its 11th win of the season, which is the second most in the country.

UP NEXT
After a brief hiatus around the holiday, Jacksonville returns to the court on December 30^th to host Erskine. Tipoff is slated for 3 pm and the game can be streamed on ESPN+ or heard on 1010XL.