PISCATAWAY, N.J. — West Brighton resident Liam Murphy couldn’t have timed his return from an injury any better.
Murphy, who missed four games for Purdue University’s men’s basketball team after injuring his shooting shoulder last month, was activated for Tuesday’s game at Rutgers. The former Jaques Award winner then played over 11 minutes in front of 200-plus Staten Islanders who made the trip to Jersey Mike’s Arena.
The top-rated Boilermakers defeated the Scarlet Knights, 81-65, to improve to 8-0 overall this season. They notched their first victory in conference play.
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The 6-foot-8 Murphy entered the game for the first time with approximately 13 minutes left in the first half. He primarily played power forward for the Boilermakers.
He finished with three points, three rebounds and an assist in 11:26. The former St. Peter’s star connected on his lone shot late in the first half when he buried a right-corner three-pointer.
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He has seen action in three games and is averaging 5.7 ppg.
The sharp-shooting Murphy, who now has 178 career three-pointers, suffered a shoulder injury while taking part in a rebounding drill during practice a few weeks back.
Fortunately, the injury wasn’t serious and after missing approximately two weeks to allow it to heal, he returned to practice in the middle of last week.
Murphy wasn’t activated for Purdue’s home contest against Akron last Friday, but he got the OK to suit up Tuesday with hundreds of fans from the Island in attendance, including St. Peter’s entire varsity team and coaching staff.
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When he nailed his lone shot, the roar of the crowd — Murphy’s Staten Island crowd — was quite apparent as he retreated on defense.
What’s next for Murphy and the Boilermakers? They’ll host No. 10 Iowa State in a non-conference game at Mackey Arena on Saturday beginning at noon. Purdue, in fact, plays four more games — three of them at Mackey — before Christmas.