(CHICAGO, IL.) – After losing to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (19-14) in the last two matchups, the Purdue Boilermakers (27-5) get revenge and win 70-65 in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals.
The first twenty minutes of this game would be a roller coaster of emotions for the Purdue Boilermakers. During different portions of the season, they would struggle to start games and that would be the case today. Now that can be attributed to nerves with it being the first tournament game for the freshman guards Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith or just not used to the rims at the United Center. Matt Painter’s team would quickly find themselves down 17-5 through the first six and a half minutes. The defense for the Boilers would spark their eventual comeback after limiting the Rutgers offense to three points for the next seven minutes to cut their deficit to one point at 20-19. The catalyst for the offense for Purdue was Mason Gillis and David Jenkins Jr. They would each score six points during that stretch with Zach Edey with the only other field goal during that time. After that run for Purdue, they would go ice cold again from the field until the final three minutes where they would score ten points and outscore Rutgers 10-4. They would take their first lead of the game at 25-24 when Edey drew a foul as he was dunking, then converted the free throw. Rutgers would counter to go ahead 28-26 in the final seconds of the half before Gillis knocked down his first and the team’s second three of the half as time expired. After twenty minutes of basketball, Purdue would lead 29-28 with Gillis and Edey would pace the Boilers in scoring with ten points each. The foul discrepancy would be in Purdue’s favor with Rutgers committing 11 to Purdue’s four.
Coming out of the locker room to start the second half, the Purdue Boilermakers started looking like the Boilermakers during the start of the season where they did not rely so heavily on Edey. So much so that he did not score his first field goal of the second half until thirteen minutes had elapsed. The offense for Purdue came from the perimeter with Gillis, Jenkins Jr., and Ethan Morton draining threes. Those three combined for five threes in the first eleven minutes of the second half, allowing Purdue to go ahead by four points. Rutgers would cut it down to one at 50-49, but the Purdue crew went back to work on both ends of the floor. They’d go on a 6-0 run, but it would cover nearly four minutes of time to go up by seven points. Purdue would hold their lead around that six points range for the remainder of the half and hold on to defeat Rutgers 70-65. It was a rock fight for Purdue though, because Steve Pikiell’s team never goes away. They always fight and claw their way back into games because of their defense. The downfall for Rutgers, is that they struggled offensively in the second half to string together baskets. In the first three minutes, Purdue gave Rutgers four consecutive conversions, but ONE time the next 16 minutes of play. There were occasions where Purdue gave Rutgers a chance to get back into the game, but they just simply score against the Purdue defense or not turn the ball over.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mason Gillis (20p, 9r), Zach Edey (16p, 11r), David Jenkins Jr. (12p, 3/3 on threes). For this afternoon’s full box score, click here.
NOTES: David Jenkins Jr. 12 points marked a season high, Zach Edey registered his 24th double-double on the season, and Mason Gillis notched his 6th game with 10+ points and 2nd game with 20+ points on the season. Purdue has now made the semi-finals in consecutive tournaments for the first time since 2015-2016.
NEXT UP: The Boilermakers will turn around in less than 24 hours and take on the winner of the Michigan State Spartans and Ohio State Buckeyes game at 2pm Saturday afternoon.
