Boilers Late First Half Surge leads to win

Boilers Late First Half Surge leads to win

by: Steven Stremming, Excel H Sports/USBWA

Purdue and Michigan coming into Sunday’s B1G Ten tilt were on the opposite ends of the standings, when all was said and done, they still are in the same position.

After a slow start the (#2 Excel H Sports) Boilermakers made a mid-first-half surge that was to be held up in the second half for a Boiler 84 to 76 win.

The surge started with a Mason Gillis layup at the 4:55 mark in the first half to put the Boilers up 34 to 30.

The Wolverines would come back with a Terrance Williams II made jumper to close the gap back to two.

From that point forward the Boilers Zach Edey would put the Boilers back up by four at 36 to 32. After a Braden Smith defensive rebound, Lance Jones hit Edey with a pass and the score to open up a 40 to 32 lead at the 3:06 mark.

Wolverine Will Tschetter secured a layup to cut the gap to six before yet another Boiler surge.

At the 2:08 mark Braden Smith secured an offensive rebound and then assisted Lance Jones on a trey to open up a nine-point Boiler lead.

Almost a full minute later Edey would collect a offensive rebound off a missed Smith three-pointer and scored to make it 45 to 34 and drawing a foul from Tschetter.

The Wolverines would get no closer in the first half and it ended on a Gillis assist to Edey.

The second half Michigan outscored Purdue 40 to 37.

For the game, Zach Edey topped the Boilermakers with 35 points on a 14 of 18 from the floor and 15 rebounds. Lance Jones added 15 points, Smith added 11 points to go along with 11 assists and eight boards. Mason Gillis was solid in his 25 minutes of time by scoring eight points, grabbing eight boards and a steal.

Michigan was led by Dug McDaniel’s 19, Burnett 12, Williams 11 and ten apiece for Tschetter and Jackson.

Purdue leads the B1G Ten race with a 14 and three mark and lead the Illini by 2 1/2 games and Northwestern and Wisconsin by 3 1/2. Nebraska and Michigan State by 4 1/2 and the Golden Gophers by five.

(The following is sourced per Purdue University Athletics)

• No. 3-ranked Purdue improved to 25-3 overall and 14-3 in the Big Ten standings with an 84-76 victory at the Crisler Center.
• The win clinched a double-bye in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament and kept Purdue two-and-a-half game lead in the Big Ten standings with just three games to play.
• Purdue has clinched a double-bye in every year of the tournament format since 2014-15 (the 2020 tournament was canceled).
• Purdue’s 220 conference wins since Matt Painter’s second season (2006-07) are now the most in the Big Ten.
• Purdue has 25 wins in its first 28 games in a season for just the second time ever (1987-88; 26-2).
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season, Purdue is 110-42 in Big Ten play, the most wins for a power-conference team in league play during that span.
• Purdue is now 13-6 (.684) on the road in Big Ten play over the last two seasons. Purdue’s senior class is 23-16 (.590) on the road in Big Ten play during their careers.
• Purdue won in the Crisler Center in consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 2010 and Feb. 2012.
• The win also enabled Matt Painter to improve to 17-17 against Michigan during his career. He now owns at least a .500 record against every Big Ten team except Ohio State.
• Purdue has now won at least 25 games in 11 of Matt Painter’s 19 seasons.
• Purdue’s senior class has won 56 Big Ten games with the win over Michigan. The school record for Big Ten wins by a senior class is 57 (Class of 2019).
• Purdue is now 83-17 since the start of the 2021-22 season, tied for the most victories in a three-year span in school history (done twice before; 2016-18 and 2017-19).
• The victory was Purdue’s 17^th quad-1 and 2 victory combined, the most in the nation (9 – quad 1, 8 – quad 2).
• Purdue has won 20 straight games when winning both the rebounding (+13) and turnover margins (-2).
• Purdue has won 22 straight games when forcing 10 or more turnovers.
• Zach Edey scored 35 points with 15 rebounds and two assists against no turnovers, marking his 20^th double-double of the season. Edey’s seven career 30-15 games are the most for a high-major player in the last 15 years (Marvin Bagley, Blake Griffin – 4) by three games. His 10 career games of at least 25 points and 15 rebounds are also the most nationally in that span (Blake Griffin – 9).
• Edey moved into second place on Purdue’s career scoring chart, passing Joe Barry Carroll (2,175), now with 2,197 points. He is just 125 points behind career leader Rick Mount (2,323).
• Edey moved into the top 15 on the Big Ten’s all-time scoring list (2,197 points).
• His 14 career 30-10 games are the second most for any player in the last 15 years (South Dakota State’s Mike Daum – 21).
• Edey needs three points and 22 rebounds to become the first player in Big Ten history with 2,200 career points and 1,200 career rebounds.
• Edey now has 664 points (15^th in school history) and 331 rebounds (5^th in school history) during his senior season. He is shooting 62.7 percent from the field and is one assist shy of his career high with 51 (52 in 2022-23).
• Braden Smith recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 11 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds and 4 steals. His six games of 10 or more assists in a season tied a school record (Bruce Parkinson – 1974 and 1975).
• Smith now ranks third on Purdue’s single-season assists list with 203, dishing out the most assists in a season since Brian Walker in 1980-81 (205). The school record for assists in a season is 208 by Bruce Parkinson in 1974-75.
• Lance Jones tallied 15 points, and now has 1,878 career points. In the last 11 games, he is averaging 15.6 points per game, while shooting 32-of-77 (.416) from long distance.