Purdue’s Court Awareness Ends Maryland 19 game home win streak

Purdue’s Court Awareness Leads to Win

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

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

At the Xfinity Center, Purdue Universities #1 ranked (Excel H Sports) Boilermakers led from start to finish, giving Head Coach Matt Painter a win against Maryland.

photo by: Tony Harper/Indiana Sports Network/Excel H Sports

And at the same time, broke a 19-game home winning streak (third longest in the country, Oral Roberts has a 21-game streak) with a commanding 67 to 53 victory in front of over 14,000 fans.

Purdue’s win has to be credited to group court awareness, as the Boilers moved the ball from side to side and front the edges to the paint and back out.

The biggest beneficiary of this awareness early and often was Southern Illinois transfer, Lance Jones as he nailed three, three-pointers to help the Boilers open a 20 point and plus lead that the Terps never really cut into to.

photo by: Tony Harper/Indiana Sports Network/Excel H Sports

Jones tallied 11 points for the game who connected for four of twelve shots from the field that included those three daggers out of his ten shots from the behind the arc. Jones added four assists.

While Jones was scorching the nets his teammates were feeding the paint to Zach Edey who dominated the middle.

Edey totaled 23 points and 12 boards for the game that included a solid seven of eight from the charity line.

photo by: Tony Harper/Indiana Sports Network/Excel H Sports

And all Boiler fans knows this team is a complete team and so then it was Sophomore Braden Smith who scored 14 points, seven rebounds and assisted on six baskets.

photo by: Tony Harper/Indiana Sports Network/Excel H Sports

Mason Gillis, a New Castle, Indiana Senior brought his A game as he scored four points but claimed three boards and handed out two assists, but his hustle stood out along with his defense.

photo by: Tony Harper/Indiana Sports Network/Excel H Sports

Senior Ethan Morton also played solid defense in his 12 minutes in the Boiler win.

photo by: Tony Harper/Indiana Sports Network/Excel H Sports

Maryland’s Jahmir Young scored 26 points, nearly half of the Terps points while former Indiana Hoosier, Jordan Geronimo scored nine points and grabbed six boards.

Edey, Kaufmann-Renn, Heide and Furst held Jalen Reese to zero points for the game.

(The following is credit sourced to Purdue University Athletics)

• The No. 1-ranked Purdue Boilermakers improved to 13-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten Conference with a 67-53 win over Maryland.
• The victory snapped a four-game losing streak in College Park and was Purdue’s first at Maryland since Dec. 2017. Purdue is 9-6 all-time against Maryland.
• The 14-point win was Purdue’s largest margin of victory ever against Maryland.
• The win snapped Maryland’s 19-game home winning streak (3rd in country) and 14-game Big Ten homecourt winning streak (Feb. 10, 2022).
• The Purdue senior class has now won in every Big Ten arena with the exception of Rutgers. Purdue will travel to Piscataway on Jan. 28.
• Purdue has held three straight opponents under 57 points, the first time doing that since Nov. 16 to 29, 2019 (vs. Chicago State, Jacksonville State and VCU).
• Purdue is now 42-7 (.857) since the start of last season, tied for the second-fewest losses in the country (Houston – 4) in that span.
• Purdue has started at least 2-1 in Big Ten play for the eighth time in the last 10 years.
• Purdue won its ninth straight game in the month of January, tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the country.
• Purdue is 44-35 (.557) in Big Ten road games since the start of the 2015-16 season. The win percentage is the fifth-best percentage nationally in league road games.
• The victory was Purdue’s 10^th (out of 13 wins) against quad-1, 2 or 3 – the most in the nation.
• Purdue is 98-40 in Big Ten play since the start of the 2016-17 season – the fifth-best record in conference play in America.
• Purdue won its 18^th straight game when committing 15 or fewer turnovers.
• The Boilermakers won their 23^rd straight game when holding opponents to 59 or fewer points.
• Purdue has won 34 straight games when shooting a higher field goal percentage than its opponent.
• Zach Edey recorded his 47^th career double-double with 23 points, 12 rebounds and two assists. His 26 career 20-10 games are the most among all active players and the most for a Big Ten player in the last 15 years.
• Edey now has 1,857 career points, 991 rebounds and 180 blocked shots. He needs nine rebounds to become the second player in school history with 1,000 rebounds (Joe Barry Carroll).
• Braden Smith tallied 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists – his seventh game this season of at least 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists (2^nd most in the country).

(The following is credit sourced to University of Maryland Athletics)

Fear The Jahmir 

• With 26 points in the game, Jahmir Young added to his career scoring total and now has 2,232 points. He is the second-leading active scorer in the nation behind Texas’ Max Abmas (2,767). 
• It was his seventh game with 20-plus points this season and 48th in his career, the most among all active Big Ten players. 
• Young is the only active player in the nation with 2,000+ points, 600+ rebounds and 400 assists as he has 2,232 points, 674 rebounds and 415 assists.

Scott Climbing The Charts

• After scoring eight points, Donta Scott increased his career total to 1,457 points, placing him 20th all-time. He passed Eric Ayala (1,449, 2018-22). Next on the list at No. 19 is Derrick Lewis (1458, 1984-88).
• Scott grabbed seven rebounds to increase his career total to 775 rebounds, good for No. 12 all-time. Next up is Ekene Ibekwe who grabbed 781 boards from 2003-07. 
• Scott played in his 143rd career game as a Terp adding to his all-time school record for games played. Scott also started his 128th career game which ranks third-most in program history. The school record is 136 by Steve Blake (1999-2003). Second on the list is Anthony Cowan Jr. with 130 from 2016-20. 

Numbers To Know

• 19: Maryland saw its home game win streak snapped. They won 19 consecutive games at home. 
• 118: Jahmir Young scored in double-digits for the 118th time in his career. It’s also the ninth game in a row that he’s played and scored double-digits. 
• 143: Donta Scott played his 143rd game as a Terp to extend his school record for games played. 

In The House

• The stars came out to watch Maryland and Purdue as Maryland alum and ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt was courtside along with Hall of Fame coach Gary Williams. Football coach Michael Locksley was at the game, fresh off a dominating 31-13 win in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. 
• Locksley assisted with the halftime entertainment from the legendary Red Panda, who performed her trademark show much to the attendance’s delight. 
• Terp legend and NBA Champion Keith Booth was recognized as the game’s honorary captain.