WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Head Coach Sydney Johnson has always talked about a team concept where everyone needs to contribute in order for the Fairfield University men's basketball team to have success. Tonight, he saw five or six players step up at various times and show what they can do against a nationally-ranked team. While the final score may have shown #22/24 Purdue taking a 90-57, the eighth-year head coach was encouraged with the play of his squad.

                "They were some things that we could take away from the game," Coach Johnson said. "Jonathan Kasibabu, Neftali Alvarez , Matija Milin, Wassef Methnani, Landon Taliaferro, Jesus Cruz, so many guys played inspired minutes tonight and I am singling these guys out because of the effort I saw. This team showed a lot of guts but we got a little bit overwhelmed by Purdue's individual brilliance. I really admire Matt Painter and what he has done with the program. Purdue is so fundamentally sound and they play the right way."

                Alvarez drew attention from many schools, including Purdue, before deciding on Fairfield and no one is more pleased than Coach Johnson. The freshman showed his own flashes of brilliance with a team-high 16 points including 12 in the second half. He scored with driving layups, midrange jumpers, and long-range three pointers that showed his versatility.

                Kasibabu also enjoyed a solid game offensively with 14 points, but his leadership on the court was apparent when he provided a calming influence during several Purdue runs. His scoring capability ranged from layups to three pointers as well, netting two shots from the behind the arc for the first time in his career.

                "Jon is just everything and this really is his team," Coach Johnson said. "He is so important what he does on the court but he is just a huge culture guy for us. He walks the walk for what we want these guys to do every single day and gives them such a great model to follow."

                Methnani was saddled with foul trouble throughout the game which limited his minutes on the court, especially with three fouls in the first half. But when he was in the game, the forward held his own against several of Purdue's big men. He posted three points and secured a co-team leading four rebounds along with Kasibabu and Taj Benning.

                "Wassef showed a lot of guts the last few days," Coach Johnson said. "He was really focused coming into this game and practiced really hard to get ready for tonight."

                Milin was another Stag who helped Fairfield stay in the game by scoring all eight of his points over the final 20 minutes. Taliaferro was another Stag who had an impressive debut with six points on a couple of three pointers.

                The Stags scored the first six points of the game when Taj Benning put Fairfield's first points on the board with a three-point play and Jonathan Kasibabu added a three-point field goal to make it a 6-0 lead. Fairfield remained in the lead at the first media timeout at 8-4 before Purdue found its range from three-point range and started to use the long-range shot to erase the deficit and build one of its own.

                With the score tied at 10-10, the Boilermakers threaded three straight three pointers to take their biggest lead to that point at 19-10. Carsen Edwards made the last two three-point field goals during that run, the first of seven shots from beyond the arc. Edwards would finish the game with 30 points by netting 10 of 17 shots from the floor.

                Fairfield would finish the half with a 17-point deficit as Purdue went into the locker room with a 44-27 advantage. But the Stags came out in the second half and played their host to a virtual draw over the first 15 minutes of the period and still trailed by the same halftime deficit at 72-55 with 5:32 on the clock.

                Purdue would finish out the final five minutes by scoring 18 of the game's final 20 points to nearly double that 17-point lead by ending the game with a 90-57 victory.

                While the final score many reflect the effort of his team, Coach Johnson had some takeaways from tonight that he hopes will develop further as the season progresses.

                "This team is not going to be a one-guy type of deal this year," Coach Johnson said. "We have a lot of pieces here and we had a lot of guys playing hard and that is comforting.