EDEY DOMINATES

EDEY DOMINATES

written by: Steven Stremming, Excel H Sports/United States Basketball Writers Association

photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

videographer: Cainan Harper/Excel H Sports

On a blustery, cold, snowy afternoon in West Lafayette, the #1 (Excel H Sports) Purdue Boilermakers left no doubt what the outcome of this game would be against Penn State, after the Nittany Lions had taken an early twelve to eight (12-8) lead in the game.

Purdue would go on a 28 to two run and blow the game wide-open in front of a sold-out Mackey Arena.

Sometimes, many of us write about other Boilers who have good nights or days in Boiler victories to go along with Zach Edey’s countless winning buckets and rebounds and other contributions.

Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

On this afternoon, there was only one word to describe the game and that word was Edey.

Zach was the central figure, the reigning national player of the year showed why, nothing has really changed in the next national player of the year choice.

Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

After the Nittany Lions had taken an early twelve to eight lead, mainly by Kanye Clary who had scored five of those twelve points, then the Boilers applied the pressure and went on a 31 to five streak over seven minutes of game time that included an impressive 11 of 12 makes from the field and five of six from behind the arc to take a 39 to 15 lead with still over eight minutes left in the first half.

Mason Gillis, Camden Heide and Lance Jones lit the Nittany Lions up with their three-point shooting during that span.

Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

Penn State did manage to cut into that lead behind Nick Kern, Jr. and Jameel Brown to close back within 16 before Purdue once again outscored Penn State ten to six and take a twenty-point margin at the break.

Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

In his thirty minutes of floor time Edey was ten of twelve from the field, ten of fourteen from the charity stripe, to along with 20 boards, which six were offensive. Edey committed one foul while drawing a whopping thirteen for the game to go along with his three blocked shots. Edey for the game ended with thirty points.

Aiding Edey in the Boilers win were a season-high eleven assists from Sophomore Braden Smith. Smith also added six points, four boards and committed only two turnovers in his thirty plus minute day.

Other Boilers with solid performances were Fletcher Loyer, eleven points, three assists, Lance Jones with 14 points on five of nine from the field, three of seven behind the arc and four assists, Gillis, seven points and Heide with eight points.

Trey Kaufman-Renn added five points, Caleb Furst seven points, three boards and Heritage Christian graduate Myles Colvin with seven points.

Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

For the game the Boilers shot 58.2% percent from the field, 45.9% percent from behind the arc.

Penn State was led by Nick Kern, Jr.’s 18 points, a career high, Adrian “Ace” Baldwin, Jr. a career high 13 assists breaking his previous mark of ten along with Kanye Clary finished with 16 points and Jameel Brown’s 13.

Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

Officiating the game were Brian Dorsey, Michael Greenstein and Bill Ek.

(Post game press conferences video graphed by Cainan Harper)

Penn St. Coach Rhoades Post-Game Press Conference After 95-78 Loss to Purdue (youtube.com)

Purdue MBB Players Post-Game Press Conference After 95-78 Win vs. Penn State (youtube.com)

Purdue’s Matt Painter Post-Game Press Conference After 95-78 Win Over Penn State (youtube.com)

(The following is credit sourced to Purdue University Athletics)

• Purdue improved to 15-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten with a 95-78 win over Penn State in front of the 66^th straight sellout at Mackey Arena.
• Purdue is 15-2 or better for the third straight season.
• The win was Purdue’s 10^th straight at Mackey Arena and seventh straight over Penn State. The Boilermakers have won 27 of their last 30 games against Penn State and 17 of their last 18 games.
• Purdue has won 19 straight games as a ranked team against Penn State, dating to Jan. 6, 2009.
• With the Paint Crew in attendance, Purdue is now 63-6 against Big Ten teams since the start of the 2014-15 season.
• Purdue is now 99-12 against unranked Big Ten teams at Mackey Arena during the Matt Painter era.
• Purdue’s 95 points in regulation were its most against a Big Ten team since scoring 104 against Iowa on Feb. 5, 2020. The 56 first-half points were also the most since scoring 61 in that same Iowa game.
• Purdue improved to 6-1 since the start of last year following a loss.
• Purdue posted a season-best run of 17-0 midway through the first half – part of a run that actually went 27-2.
• Purdue is 81-3 since the start of the 2017-18 season when scoring at least 80 points.
• Purdue won its 117^th straight game when scoring at least 90 points, dating to Nov. 24, 1987, vs. Iowa State.
• Matt Painter won his 213^th Big Ten game, now needing just one win to tie Illinois’ Lou Henson for fifth (214) on the Big Ten-games only victories list.
• The win was Purdue’s 100^th in Big Ten play since the start of the 2016-17 season (100-41). Michigan State is next among Big Ten teams with 88 victories in that span.
• Purdue had 26 assists on its 32 made field goals and outrebounded the Nittany Lions 43-24.
• After going 11-of-24 from deep, Purdue is now shooting 39.8 percent from 3-point range on the season.
• Zach Edey recorded his second career game of at least 30 points and 20 rebounds, when he had 30 points, 20 rebounds, three assists and three blocks. His two career 30-20 games are the second most in school history (Terry Dischinger – 3; 1960-62). He is the first player nationally to reach 30-20 in a game this season.
• He is just one three players since 2010-11 to have at least 30 points, 20 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in a game (Feb. 2019 – South Dakota State’s Mike Daum, Dec. 2022 – Chattanooga’s Jake Stephens).
• Edey recorded his 10^th career 30-10 game, the most for an active player by six games (Hunter Dickinson – 4). It’s the most for a Big Ten player in the last 15 years by five games (Luka Garza – 5). It was also his 49^th career double-double.
• Edey has now scored in double-figures in 68 straight games, tied for the third-longest streak for a major-college player since the 2002-03 season.
• In Big Ten play only, Edey is averaging 23.0 points, 13.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 2.2 assists, while shooting 71.6 percent from the field.
• Edey now has 1,912 points, 1,033 rebounds (14^th in Big Ten history) and 187 blocks. He needs 88 points and 13 blocks to become the third player in NCAA history to have 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 blocks and shoot at least 60.0 percent from the field, joining David Robinson and Patrick Ewing. Edey is currently shooting 62.4 percent from the field.
• Braden Smith dished out a career-high 11 assists, his third game this year of 10 or more assists, tied for the second most in the country. Smith is now averaging 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game. His three games of 10 or more assists are the most for a Purdue player since 1987 (Everette Stephens – 4).