Cardinal Rules as Purdue Defeats Long Beach State

Do not be deceived by Brian Cardinal’s boyish looks.

The Long Beach State men’s basketball team learned Saturday night that Purdue’s 6-foot-8 freshman forward from tiny Tolono, Ill., is just as aggressive as any player.

Cardinal, whose father Rod is the athletic trainer for the Illinois men’s basketball team, paced Purdue to an 86-71 victory against the 49ers in the Boilermaker Invitational championship game.

Although Long Beach State (3-2) got a game-high 25 points from guard James Cotton and 16 points and eight assists from guard Tommie Davis, the 49ers could not sidetrack Cardinal.

Cardinal finished with 18 points, including 15 during the first half, six rebounds and three assists.

He scored six points during a pivotal 16-2 Boilermaker run after Long Beach State had taken an early 8-2 lead.

Cardinal, who was selected the tournament’s most valuable player, made five of seven field-goal attempts and eight of 11 free throws.

“If you were to see Cardinal off the court, you would get the wrong impression,” Davis said. “We watched a lot of videotape of him, and he’s a very good player.

“He has a nice outside shot, and he can take the ball to the basket. He’s very versatile.”

Long Beach State Coach Wayne Morgan would like to have Cardinal.

“He’s a good player,” Morgan said. “He works very hard.

“I thought Purdue executed well. I thought it was the best game they’ve played all year.”

The Boilermakers (4-2) led, 44-32, at halftime before a Cotton three-pointer and two Brandon Titus baskets pulled Long Beach State to within 57-48 with 12 minutes 49 seconds remaining.

At that point, Purdue began a 13-5 run, which produced a 70-53 advantage with 7:45 remaining, and the Boilermakers had their fifth consecutive invitational tournament championship.

Long Beach State shot 46% from the field but was outrebounded, 39-34.

“We thought that we had to rebound the ball very well, which is something we need to work on,” Morgan said.

“We’ve given up too many offensive rebounds in all the games we’ve played. If we can correct that, our team will improve a great deal.”

Purdue junior guard Chad Austin, who matched Cardinal with 18 points, made Cotton work extremely hard for his 21 shots, of which he made eight.

“I think Purdue did a good job staying with James and trying to deny him the ball,” Morgan said. “We probably needed to do a better job of setting a few more screens and getting him open.”

As most Big Ten games are, this one was physical. Purdue made 24 of 33 free throws; the 49ers made nine of 17.

“It was a very physical game,” Davis said. “I’m sure that any time you play against a Big Ten team, it’s physical. Plus, Purdue’s a very good team.”

Cotton and Davis were selected to the all-tournament team.