Purdue Downs Feisty Marquette 75-70

Purdue plays well down the stretch behind Edey and Smith to hand Marquette their first loss 75-72 in Mackey Arena.

The Drum Beat
Purdue Basketball
Shawn Martin
ExcelHSports

Purdue (Excel H Sports #26) used a 12-0 run over 5:21 late in the second half to put away the pesky Marquette Golden Eagles 75-70.

Golden Eagle junior guard Tyler Kolek hit a layup with 5:46 left in the game to put his team up 62-59. Thirty seconds later Boilermaker freshman guard Braden Smith scored on a layup to begin a personal 6-0 run. Smith took Marquette junior forward Oliver-Maxence Prosper to the lane on three straight trips down the floor hitting two layups and drawing a shooting foul where he hit both free throws – all in 56 seconds.

Nearly a minute later Purdue sophomore Caleb Furst dunked off the baseline after a nifty pass from junior center Zach Edey to put the Boilers up 67-62 with 3:23 left. Smith hit two more free throws with 1:29 left then Edey hit a short jumper with 47 seconds left to put Purdue up 9, 71-62 and allow Purdue Coach Matt Painter and the 14,800 Purdue fans in attendance to breathe a sigh of relief.

Kam Jones and David Joplin, both talented sophomores for the Golden Eagles, hit threes to pull Marquette back within four, 72-68. Marquette was aided some by Smith and fellow freshman Fletcher Loyer going 2-4 from the line. The Boilers did make three free throws in the last 11 seconds to seal the victory.

Marquette – wearing their white uniforms – started the game like they were the normal inhabitants of cavernous Mackey Arena, shooting well and scoring a 7-0 lead just a minute and a half into the contest.

Purdue took their first lead of the game 14-13 on an Edey dunk with 13:55 left in the first half. Jones almost immediately answered with a three – his tenth points in the opening 6:19 of the game. The rest if the first half seesawed back and forth.

Jones capped an impressive first half by hitting another three with 43 seconds left to put the Golden Eagles ahead 34-32 at the break. He finished with 19 points, but 16 of those came in the first 20 minutes.

The much shorter Golden Eagles beat the Boilers on the boards 39-35 – including collecting 15 on the offensive end. Marquette shot 16 more shots than Purdue did. Purdue made up for that at the free throw line hitting 12-18 while the Golden Eagles only saw the line seven times, hitting five.

Edey was dominant inside most of the game altering shots and scoring 20 points and pulling down 13 rebounds in 33 minutes of playing time. Smith had 20 points and only two turnovers against Marquette coach Shaka Smart’s intense ball pressure defense.

Joplin led Marquette with 21 points off the bench. Purdue senior guard David Jenkins Jr. added 10 for the Boilers and Loyer had nine (9).

Purdue (3-0) heads to West Virginia to play the Mountaineers on Thanksgiving. Marquette (2-1) returns home to host Long Island University Friday night.

• Painter Postgame: https://youtu.be/lWgzRirArDQ
• Player Postgame: https://youtu.be/Sqkx5sB6jgM

Information below courtesy of Purdue Athletics:

Purdue 75, Marquette 70 (Postgame Notes)

• Purdue improved to 3-0 with a 75-70 win over Marquette in the Gavitt Games in front of a sold-out crowd of 14,876 at Mackey Arena. The sellout was Purdue’s 44^th straight sellout, dating to Jan. 2019.
• Purdue has started 3-0 or better 12 times under Matt Painter. In 10 of the 11 previous years (2014), the Boilermakers made the NCAA Tournament.
• Purdue improved to 2-2 in the Gavitt Games, defeating Marquette in the 2017 (86-71) and 2022 (75-70) event. The Boilermakers have lost to Villanova in 2016 (76-73) and Marquette in 2019 (65-55).
• Purdue improved to 10-1 all-time against Marquette. However, this was Purdue’s first win against a Shaka Smart-coached team in four tries (2011 vs. VCU, 2018 vs. Texas, 2019 vs. Texas). Purdue’s last non-conference loss came against Texas in the 2019 meeting.
• Purdue has won 17 straight non-conference games at Mackey Arena, tied for the sixth-longest streak in Mackey Arena history.
• The Boilermakers have won 16 straight regular-season non-conference games, dating to a 58-54 loss to Miami (Fla.) on Dec. 8, 2020.
• Purdue has won 10 straight games in the month of November, dating to a Nov. 26, 2020, loss to Clemson.
• Purdue has won 25 straight home games against unranked teams.
• Purdue trailed by nine (58-49) with 9:54 to play, but outscored Marquette 26-12 the rest of the way. The Golden Eagles went just 4-of-19 from the field the remainder of the way. Purdue went 8-of-12 from the field, including 8-of-8 from inside the 3-point line in the final 10 minutes.
• Purdue had two turnovers in the game’s first two minutes, but just four turnovers the last 38 minutes.
• Zach Edey recorded his third double-double in as many games with a 20-point, 13-rebound, 3-block effort. He added one assist against no turnover, and went 8-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. He recorded his 100^th career dunk in the win.
• Freshman Braden Smith scored 20 points with three assists and two rebounds. He went 6-of-8 from the field, 3-of-4 from long distance and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. He scored 15 of his points in the second half.
• Smith (15) and Edey (14) combined for 29 of Purdue’s 43 second-half points.