Source: Matthew Holst / Getty
[Iowa City, IA]- The Purdue Boilermakers extended their win streak Saturday afternoon, but not without a fight.
#2 Purdue is leaving Iowa City with an 84-70 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Iowa’s Payton Standfort opened the game with a three, but Purdue would respond with a layup by Zach Edey thirty seconds later. At the first timeout, Purdue trailed 12-10. Purdue would not take the lead until the 11:53 mark in the first after a made three-point jumper by Mason Gillis, with Braden Smith assisting. At the end of the first half, Purdue led 47-34.
In the second half, Iowa again started the scoring. Tony Perkins laid the ball in, cutting the Purdue lead down to eleven. Iowa would go on a 9-0 scoring run before being stopped. Iowa brought the game within eight after two free throws by Josh Dix. Both teams would trade missed shots after.
Lance Jones ended the scoring drought with a 1:35 left in the game, putting his index finger to his lips afterwards. Braden Smith was awarded the assist. Jones would be the last player to score, notching three free throws, leading to the 84-70 win.
Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn left with 7:50 left in the second half with an injury.
Zach Edey notched another double-double for his career, having 30 points and 18 rebounds. Smith led the assist category with nine.
Purdue now improves to 17-2 overall, and 6-2 in the Big Ten. They sit in second place in the Big Ten, one game back from #11 Wisconsin for the top spot.
The #2 Boilermakers have a few days of rest before returning home against the Michigan Wolverines on Tuesday at 9:00 PM Eastern. To round out the month of January, Purdue is at Rutgers on January 28th, and hosts Northwestern on January 31st.
