WEST LAFAYETTE — Liam Murphy's return to full contact practice Wednesday came as a pleasant surprise to Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter.

Due to the unexpected nature of the devleopment, Painter could not say yet whether the forward will be available for the Boilermakers' game at noon Friday against Eastern Illinois. At the very least it suggests the North Florida transfer's timeline to return from a shoulder injury will be short, barring setbacks.

"I thought he was just non-contact," Painter said. "Obviously he got into some things.

"He said he felt great. You just want to make sure that, sometimes you come back a little too early, hurt it again and make it a longer time out. But that was good to see him get out there."

Murphy has not played since suffering the shoulder inju

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