(WEST LAFAYETTE, IN.) – After falling on Saturday to the Indiana Hoosiers, the Purdue Boilermakers (23-2 | 12-2) respond and hold off the Iowa Hawkeyes (15-9 | 7-6) from Mackey Arena to win 87-73.
The first half was all Boilermakers. Iowa got the first points of the game via Kris Murray, but the Boilermaker defense was lock down for the next handful of minutes. The consistent stops defensively allowed Matt Painter’s crew to get easy baskets to quickly go ahead 19-4 in six minutes of game time. It wasn’t Zach Edey doing the scoring early, it was Fletcher Loyer. He scored seven quick points for Purdue with his freshman counterpart in Braden Smith drilling a pair of threes as well. That 15-point margin would be the largest lead the Boilermakers would have in the first half, until a late surge going into the locker room. The offense for Purdue wasn’t as crisp as it has been in some games this year, but the ability to force Iowa to settle for jump shots that were highly contested, allowed Purdue to hold a lead of ten or more for most of the half. With 4:12 remaining, Purdue led 29-19 and made life hell offensively for Iowa. They would convert just one of their next five shots, while Purdue was knock down some shots to go ahead 38-21 at intermission. Smith led the Boilers in scoring with ten points followed by Mason Gillis with eight off the bench. Caleb Furst provided some help on both ends of the floor with seven points and six boards. Iowa shot 29% from the floor and 1/10 on three-point shots. Edey had a quiet half with four points and eight rebounds.
Coming out of the locker room, the start of the second half was very identical to the first half. Smith caught fire right from the jump. He scored ten consecutive points for the Boilers after assisting on the first made shot of the second half on a triple from Ethan Morton. During the Smith takeover, the lead for Purdue reached a game high 21-points at 46-25 and it had Mackey Arena rocking. The veteran group of the Hawkeyes would not go away. What allowed the Hawkeyes to get back into the game is head coach Fran McCaffery going to a full court press. The freshman guards for Purdue started to turn the ball over and it quickly evaporated their lead from 21 down to SIX with less than six minutes to go. It took Iowa about eleven minutes to make that happen and outscored Purdue 39-24 after scoring just 21 points in the first half. From that point on, Zach Edey would assert his dominance. Edey would register eight points, three rebounds, and a block. His effectiveness didn’t fully show up in the box score because Iowa reverted back to settling for contested jump shots, and resulted in Purdue cruising to a 87-73 victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Braden Smith (24p, 5a, 4r), Zach Edey (14p, 14r, 5b, 4a), Fletcher Loyer (17p), Caleb Furst (11p, 10r). For tonight’s full box score, click here.
NOTES: Smith notched a career high 24 points and four threes, Edey tallied his fourth consecutive double-double (20th on the season and 32nd of his career), and Furst registered his third double-double on the season (4th in his career).
NEXT UP: Purdue will enjoy Friday and Saturday off before the beginnings of a two-game road trip with the Northwestern Wildcats. They’ll be coming off a thrilling road win against Ohio State. The Wildcats are 10-4 at home and 17-7 on the season. Purdue will enter the game on an eleven-game winning streak against Northwestern. Tip-off on Sunday is set for 2pm.
