Jacob Lawson sparks Purdue to a 83-54 victory over Hofstra

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The Purdue men's basketball team bounced back from a regular season opening loss against Bucknell and defeated Hofstra 83-54 at Mackey Arena on Sunday afternoon.

On a day where head coach Matt Painter shook up the starting lineup by starting Dru Anthrop, Donnie Hale, and Rapheal Davis, it was a spark off the bench by sophomore forward Jacob Lawson that ignited the Boilermakers. In 15 minutes of action Lawson scored 8 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 mammoth block.

“That's what coach wanted to see, he just told me to go out there and play my hardest and bring energy,” said sophomore forward Jacob Lawson. “I'm an energy type of guy and go out there and get people to run up and down the court and that's what he likes to see so I am going to keep doing it,” said Lawson.

Sandi Marcius scored 11 points and Ronnie Johnson had nine points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Boilermakers.

Terone Johnson, who missed the opener with an ankle injury, came off the bench and scored six points for Purdue.

“You always try as a coach to push some buttons and get some guys right,” said head coach Matt Painter. “Whether that means a guy is starting out or a guy is coming off the bench. At times you don't know if it's going to work or not but you knew what happened before didn't work,” said Painter.

Hofstra led just once - with 17:30 left in the first half. The Boilermakers' biggest lead was 29 points late in the first half. Purdue shot 52 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Pride 50-22.

The Boilermakers will now head to New York, N.Y. and face Villanova on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Tip is set for 9:30 p.m.