WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — At times Tuesday night, the nation’s seventh-ranked men’s college basketball team looked every bit that good. Maybe better.

At other times, especially rebounding, Purdue looked ordinary in what was an extremely easy 78-44 victory in an exhibition game against Division II California of Pennsylvania in front of 13,820 in Mackey Arena.

The Boilermakers, featuring their trademark man-to-man defense, forced 32 Vulcans turnovers, including 20 during the first 20 minutes, when Purdue ran to a 42-24 lead.

Purdue finished with 11 steals — senior guard Keaton Grant had five — and limited California of Pennsylvania to 15 field goals in 52 attempts, 28.8 percent.

The Boilermakers raced to a 14-2 lead with 15:31 remaining in the first half, then outscored the Vulcans 28-14 during the half’s final 12:54, when freshman guard/forward D.J. Byrd recorded all 11 of his points.

Led by Grant’s 14 points, Purdue had four players in double figures, getting 12 from center JaJuan Johnson and 11 from guard E’Twaun Moore.

However, the Boilermakers were outrebounded 43-41, forcing them to rely on a plus-17 turnover differential (32-15).

“At the beginning, it’s always rough getting into the flow,” Moore said when asked about Purdue’s ability to create turnovers. "We did a good job coming out ready to play. We did force a lot of turnovers, which was an emphasis.

“We wanted to get into the passing lanes, keep the ball up and put a lot of pressure on them. That’s what we’re going to try to continue to do the rest of the year.”

Despite leading by 18 points after 20 minutes, Purdue was down 19-18 in rebounding, a statistic that bothers Johnson.

“We were especially aware of it at halftime when we saw we were down in rebounding,” Johnson said. “That’s still one of the things we need to get better at. Hopefully, as the year goes on, we will get better and better at it.”

For coach Matt Painter, there was lots to like. At the same time, the rebounding is a concern.

“Our team defense was good,” Painter said. "You don’t get that far into team defense sometimes when you force that many turnovers, because after two or three passes, you’ve forced them into a travel or a bad pass. The concern, obviously, is the rebounding part of it. We have to do a better job.

“In the grand scheme of things, when you are a positive 15 in rebounds and turnovers, you are going to win those games. I don’t care how it unfolds. If you are going to get outrebounded, that’s going to catch up to you.”

In addition to North Montgomery High School graduate Byrd, Boilermakers scholarship freshmen Patrick Bade (six points, two rebounds) and Kelsey Barlow (six points, two assists) were on the court less than five minutes into the game.

“The freshmen played really well for their first game,” Johnson said. “Really, it was a good effort from everybody.”