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PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Guard Corey Sanders, the leading freshman scorer in the Big Ten, posted a career-high 23 points for Rutgers (6-13, 0-6) in a 107-57 loss to No. 22 Purdue (16-3, 4-2) Monday evening at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights were unable to overcome a significant size disparity that resulted in the Boilermakers establishing a 63-23 advantage on the glass and a 30-9 buffer in second chance points.

Sanders, who was 10-of-20 from the field, was joined in double figures by forward D.J. Foreman, who scored 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting. The sophomore also grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.

Rutgers once again competed without the services of four injured frontcourt players - Shaquiile Doorson, Ibrahima Diallo, Deshawn Freeman and Jonathan Laurent - The quartet has combined to miss 45 games. Head coach Eddie Jordan stated post-game that Doorson, Diallo and Freeman would not return this season.

RU scored the opening points on a Greg Lewis jumper. The Boilermakers responded with a 12-2 run and never looked back.

Purdue did not commit a turnover in the opening 20 minutes, while shooting 54.8 percent (23-of-42) and out-rebounding RU 32-9 to take a 59-26 advantage into the locker room at the midpoint.

The Boilermakers advantage continued to grow in the second half. The final margin of victory reflected the largest lead of the evening.

Eleven players registered points for Purdue, resulting in a 57-6 advantage in bench points. Five Boilermakers scored in double figures, including Caleb Swanigan and Jacquil Taylor, who both had double-doubles.

Rutgers returns to the hardwood Thursday night to host No. 9 Iowa at the RAC in a 7 p.m. tip-off. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.

Postgame Notes
Corey Sanders scored a career-high 23 points on 10-of-20 shooting.
It was Sanders fifth time this season scoring at least 20 points. He has scored in double figures 13 times in 18 games.
Sanders is averaging 14.2 points per game, leading all Big Ten freshmen.
DJ Foreman tied a season-high with 13 points. It was his eighth time this season (10th career) scoring in double figures.
Foreman had a career-high three assists.
Rutgers had seven turnovers, its second lowest total of the season (six versus Wake Forest).
Head Coach Eddie Jordan stated in his postgame press conference that junior forward Deshawn Freeman (knee), redshirt freshman center Ibrahima Diallo (foot) and sophomore center Doorson (foot) will be out for the remainder of the season.

Postgame Quotes

Rutgers Head Coach Eddie Jordan:

Opening Statement: "Give head coach Matt Painter credit. They have good size and great talent, good size inside and on the perimeter. They're going to go places. My hats off to how they play and they came in and took care of business early. I thought that we had some good looks early. You knock a couple of those down and if you don't allow an eight-point swing, we missed two layups and they got one offensive rebound and cut behind us. We could have controlled the game a little bit more. We had some guys miss some layups, we missed open shots. They got some cuts and easy baskets at the rim. They just kept going from there."

On the team's defensive effort: "There were a couple of instances where we gave up layups. That's going to happen. You just have to get them back in and reaffirm what you're trying to do. Tell them that this is important to them and that you don't give up layups and open shots and don't take bad shots. You enforce that with a timeout or next time you're in the huddle. I thought we fought. We're small and we fought. There were some block outs we didn't have, but once you look at the film I bet you they just went over the top on some of them."

On the team's fight down the stretch: "You keep fighting no matter what the score is. It builds up resiliency and toughness. Corey is learning what Division I basketball is all about. Jonathan Laurent is learning what Division I basketball is. That's important. They're the core of our young group moving forward."

"We didn't give up tonight. Sometimes it appears that way. They had a center that knocked down two three pointers. What are you going to do against that? They have something going good and that's not his game. Our center is not coming out to guard that no matter what the score is. Our team is not giving up. I say it because it's the truth. I'd be the first one to say it if they were giving up, believe me."

On moving on from the loss: "Classes start tomorrow. That's important. Go to class and be on time. Life continues. Go to practice, be on time and we'll work on some things. I can't give them toughness. There were some plays where we weren't proactive physically enough. I tell our guys that we have to hit first. It's going to hurt, but it hurts less when you hit first."

Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter:

On offensive rebounds: "For us, we really wanted to establish a low-post presence. And sometimes when that happens, guys give a little too much attention to our bigs and our guards get in there and get some rebounds. We wanted to make an effort to establish the glass. And also they showed great discipline not having a turnover in the first half."

On the offense: "First and foremost, we were able to get it inside and have some transition baskets. We were able to drive in off the dribble. We wanted to drive, attack the basket and be aggressive on the glass. We were able to do that and get stops to build a big lead."

On playing aggressive: "We had a game last week where we weren't ready to play on the road. We were fortunate to be tied at halftime and got beat. We talked about being focused, mature and ready to play. This is a team (Rutgers) that had a lead on the road at Ohio State at halftime. They haven't been able to put a game of 40 minutes together, but can play 20-25 minute spurts. We wanted to come out focused and we were fortunate to do that."