Takeaways From Purdue Boilermakers Intersquad Scrimmage

On Saturday the Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball team held an intersquad scrimmage, the same day as their alumni game, where the Black team defeated the Gold team 64-52. There was two 12-minutes halves instead of the usual NCAA 20-minute regulated halves, but the Black squad outscored the Gold 36-19 during the second half to win the scrimmage.

While Mackey Arena is under renovation due to the floor being flooded in May, this Boilermakers event was held at Lafayette Jefferson High School in front of a few thousand people in attendance. Combining this with the alumni game made for an interesting event.

In the intersquad scrimmage there was plenty of new faces on the roster, as well as a number of returnees, who put on quite a show that fans will come to appreciate as the season begins.

Here's the box score from the scrimmage:

Complete stats from today's #Purdue intrasquad scrimmage.

⬆️ #BoilerUp

⤵️ pic.twitter.com/tgYWWkjit7

— Purdue Basketball (@BoilerBall) August 6, 2016

Forwards Vincent Edwards and Caleb Swanigan, who decided to return to school and forgo entering the NBA draft, had impressive performances.

Edwards had 19 points, eight total rebounds and four assists while shooting a 7-of-9 from the field. Swanigan had 11 points and nine rebounds, shooting 50 percent from the field. Both of these players are the key guys for Purdue this upcoming season and though it's just an intersquad scrimmage, it's good to see them off to a good start.

Also, junior standouts P.J. Thompson and Basil Smotherman had noticeable performances too. Thompson scored 18 points and three steals while Smotherman put in 17 points. These two upperclassman might not be as highly rated, in terms of NBA potential, as their other two teammates, but they'll play an integral part into how this season will turn out.

Now that we've covered some of the veterans on this roster, lets discuss the new additions to the team and their performances.

Before the recent signing of freshman Tommy Luce, the only freshman on the roster was point guard Carsen Edwards. Edwards was the 88th ranked player in the ESPN 100 and though he'll likely have some growing pains during his freshman season, he performed well on Saturday.

A part of the growing pains is going 4-of-12 from the field like he did during the scrimmage, but he still had 11 points while also adding six assists to his stat line. For a scorer like him with an ability to pass the ball well, he'll begin to quickly notice the amount of talent he's surrounded by.  Purdue head coach Matt Painter previously brought up the term "pick your spots" regarding Edwards according to Rivals.com, which is something the freshman will eventually learn.

Another new face is transfer (and former Michigan point guard) Spike Albrecht. Coming off an injury there's going to be some rust, but getting back into the flow with a new team is a transition. He had five points, four assists and three rebounds. A solid performance for a seasoned player who's in a new environment.

The team in total shot 46-of-92 (.500) from the field and 13-of-38 (.342) from three-point range.

The team departed for Spain this weekend, with a hectic schedule to follow, so after a fun night for the Purdue program it's time to shift gears and keep this momentum going to start a new journey for this 2016-17 season. The scrimmage, followed up by their trip to Spain, will provide valuable opportunities for the new faces to get used to the team, as well as let guys like Smotherman and forward Jacquil Taylor pick up some valuable playing time.

It's still only August, but things are starting to pick up for Purdue as they look to return to the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row this March.