Without Edwards, Purdue Ends Losing Streak
By KEITH CARRELL
@BoilerColts
ISL Purdue Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Adversity. Life comes at you in many ways and you have to learn how to roll with the punches. Purdue had no trouble finding adversity leading up to their game against Penn State Sunday night in Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers were coming off of a three game losing streak, Vincent Edwards had sprained his left ankle the day prior and was sporting a walking boot rather than a jersey for the game, Penn State entered the contest as perhaps the hottest team in the Big Ten with four straight wins (and six of their last seven – the only loss at Michigan State) including a 23 point thrashing against Ohio State earlier in the week. Purdue also had a player who was no stranger to adversity last season in Caleb “Biggie” Swanigan, by now his story is well known, and he just so happened to be in the stadium Sunday for a visit during the NBA All Star break. Not only that, but Swanigan’s guardian, Roosevelt Barnes, was also in the stadium along with the 1980 Final Four squad; both would be honored at halftime. Maybe it was their presence, maybe it was the crowd, maybe it was the moxie buying into the next man up theory, but whatever it was… Purdue rose above and simply defeated the Nittany Lions 76-73 in Purdue’s penultimate home game of the season (yes, I was just looking for an excuse to say “penultimate,” it’s just one of those words).
“Penn State’s a really good team, they’re an NCAA Tournament team,” Painter stated after the game, before continuing, “We’re very fortunate to win this game and I have nothing but great things to say about what Pat (Chambers) has done and his staff has done.” Painter finishing sternly, “they’re a very dangerous team and this was a big win for us.”
With Edwards out for the game (and potentially longer), Purdue was likely to try to get the big man, Isaac Haas, going early and often. Being without Edwards, who is a finalist for many awards as well as being a National and Big Ten player of the year candidate, is no small task to overcome. It also meant that after having the same starting lineup for the first 28 games of the season, Purdue would need to lean on someone else to step up; and in true Purdue fashion who else than a former walk-on, Grady Eifert.
The game tipped and Haas got a late jump, but Carsen Edwards darted over to steal the tip and give Purdue the opening possession. Haas got the ball deep and made an easy layup. On the next possession C. Edwards found Eifert darting toward the right side of the lane and fed him for an easy bucket; Eifert was also fouled by Shep Garner in the process and completed the three point play. Starting with such strong effort saw the crowd begin to simmer, ready to erupt; still very supportive of the team. The Boilers would continue to push the tempo and got out to a 15-11 lead six minutes into the game with a focus on getting the ball inside; only four of those points came from outside the paint or the free throw line.
That’s when things began to get sloppy, shots stopped connecting, and the wheels began to wobble off a bit for Purdue. Neither team scored for two and a half minutes until Garner buried a three, then Nazeer Bostick tipped in his own miss to give Penn State their first lead, 16-15, with eleven minutes to play in the first half and the flood gates were opening for the Nittany Lions. Penn State would take the four point deficit and use an 18-to-five run to push out a nine point lead with five minutes remaining in the first half.
Reenter Big Ten and National player of the year candidate, C. Edwards (yes, Purdue is fortunate enough to have two… yes, they both share a last name of Edwards… no, they’re not related), who ignores the fact that Purdue had missed their first seven three point attempts and sinks a triple with some two-man, inside-out assisted action with Haas to narrow the margin to six. Penn State would push the lead back out to nine when Lamar Stevens makes a jumper, but Edwards was there again to stem the tide. With less than a minute to play, Edwards sank a three and a jumper back-to-back to keep the game within reach at the break; Penn State held a 36-32 advantage. Looking back, Edwards was the only player to make a field goal for Purdue after Dakota Mathias hit a jumper at the 9:50 mark.
Highlights from tonight’s 76-73 win over Penn State!#BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/fk8BO7KXK8
— Purdue Men’s Basketball (@BoilerBall) February 19, 2018
Whatever Purdue Head Coach Matter Painter said during halftime lit some kind of fire under Purdue as they came out of the break on a mission. Purdue didn’t allow Penn State to score for nearly three minutes and began the half on a 12-2 run to take a six point lead in just four minutes. The Boilers continued to press the gas pedal and ballooned the lead to double digits, 53-42, with 12:34 to play. Penn State was down, but not out, of this fight though and they’ve been on a tear for a reason. The Nittany Lions caught fire from the field again and managed to knot the game at 56 and again at 58 with just under six minutes remaining.
Next man up? Ryan Cline picked a good game to get back into the scoring column as he stepped into a three for the go-ahead score, Purdue would hang onto the lead the rest of the way. Cline hit another three with four minutes remaining to push the lead to four, but foul shooting (both in quantity for Penn State and misses by Purdue) kept Penn State alive down the stretch. With a minute to play, Stevens hit a pair of free throws to make it a two point game. Edwards had a three blocked by Mike Watkins, Nojel Eastern kept the ball alive and found Cline who hurried a three with the clock winding down, but it missed and Garner grabbed the rebound with 23 seconds remaining. Tony Carr (19 points, five assists, five rebounds) took possession and rose for a jumper, but missed; Watkins grabbed the offensive board and was fouled by Haas. Watkins missed the front end, but made the second as Purdue clung to a one point lead and two seconds remaining. Purdue inbounded the ball to Edwards who was immediately fouled and he strutted to the other end of the floor where he sank both free throws to give Purdue a three point lead. Carr put up a midcourt prayer that caromed off the backboard and Purdue escaped with a win, while staring adversity straight down the barrel.
The last time Purdue was in Mackey (in a loss against Ohio State), Purdue was only able to find three players who could score and that kicked off the three game losing streak. In their first game back, with V. Edwards out, it was about leadership and teamwork. C. Edwards stepped up and led all scorers with 27 points, four rebounds, two assists, and three steals (with no turnovers). Grady Eifert (who doesn’t always even play in many games and averages seven minutes of action when he does) stepped up with six points, four rebounds, two assists, a block, and no turnovers in 23 minutes. In total, eight Boilers saw action; seven of them scored (Mathias 18, Haas twelve, Cline seven, Haarms four, Eastern two), but they all contributed.
“Today, for 40 minutes, everybody stepped up. Grady (Eifert) and Nojel (Eastern) were huge off the bench, Ryan (Cline) made big time shots. That’s how we have to play all of the time.” – Mathias
Even with all of the bright spots endearing the next man up mantra, this game was about Eastern, who put in 22 hearty minutes of action. The freshman was merely asked to defend the Big Ten’s leading scorer, Carr, and run point for large swaths of the game to keep Edwards and P.J. Thompson fresh; Eastern responded in a big way. It doesn’t necessarily show in the box score (two points, three boards, one assist, and one steal), but this was undeniably Eastern’s best game. He helped to turn Carr into a volume scorer, forcing him to use 22 field goal attempts to net his 19 points, eight of those shots were made. Although only credited with one steal, Eastern’s defense helped force Penn State into 15 turnovers. As a team, Purdue excelled over the Big Ten’s best team at stealing the ball, winning that battle 9-5 (and winning the overall turnover battle 15-9). As phenomenal as Eastern was, he is still a freshman and he showed that a couple of times against Penn State, most notably by sailing a ball over Haas’ head and into photographer row along the baseline with seven and a half minutes left in the game.
Edwards really took the reins against the Nittany Lions Sunday night, though. As has been a theme in the latter half of the season, Edwards has been much more active on defense cutting lanes and bodying up his man; against Penn State he was rewarded with three steals. He owned the night and the Nittany Lions most, though, with six minutes remaining in the game when he took the ball from the top of the key and drove straight to the hoop in a flash for a left handed tomahawk dunk that saw the crowd erupt with pronounced glee.
Of the V. Edwards injury, Painter said after the game that nothing was structurally wrong when they took a scan, but that he’d be a game time decision for the game at Illinois on Thursday. He went on to say, “I don’t know if he’ll play the next game, but he’s going to play at some point (this season).” To get a feel for what Purdue has to replace without Edwards… the senior this season had been playing 32 minutes per game and contributing 15 points, eight rebounds, and three assists on average.
Wedding season is fast approaching. What better way to celebrate the couple than with a personal touch of a handmade, crocheted name? That and more available at my Etsy shop: https://t.co/Giiukbazxz pic.twitter.com/zyOx8i2Ngq
— Betty’s Heritage (@BettysHeritage) February 19, 2018
During the halftime break, after Swanigan was introduced to the crowd and said a brief statement, the 1980 Final Four team was honored. After each of the players present were introduced, former player Brian Walker said a few remarks about why he feels a special relationship to the “horsey” song the Boiler Brass plays (the Paint Crew responded in kind with an emphatic “IU Sucks”) and how the 1980 team feels about the current squad.
“We think this (current Purdue) team is not only going to get to the final four, but we think they’re going to win a National Championship.” – Brian Walker from Purdue’s 1980 Final Four team
Purdue’s final home game against Minnesota will likely be an emotional trek for many of the players, staff, and fans as this senior class truly helped to reignite the flame that is Purdue Basketball. With so many key players, it will probably be the most attended and endearing of the Senior Night ceremonies that have happened with Painter at the helm.
Next up:
Away: Illinois on Thursday, 2/22 (7 pm, FS1)
Home: Minnesota on Sunday, 2/25 (4 pm, FS1)
Quick Hits:
Of the four main seniors (V. Edwards, Haas, Mathias, and Thompson), the missed game by Edwards was only the second of their collective careers – the other, Edwards missed as a freshman when he was concussed… Mathias got the first assignment on Carr to open the game and held him to three points on one of his first six shot attempts… Purdue made their first three and final three field goals in the first half, but went a measly five for 20 the rest of the half… Purdue committed only three turnovers in the second half while earning four steals (Penn State had either turnovers and no steals in the second half)… The 27 point effort by Edwards was his tenth 20-point game of the season… Cline attempted his first free throws of the season and split the pair… Purdue, especially without V. Edwards, struggled to rebound; Penn State outrebounded Purdue 35-28… Purdue continues its recent struggles from the charity stripe where they connected on only 17 of 27 attempts (Mathias and C. Edwards went a combined 8-9)… After dropping the pair of games the week prior, Purdue fell to 6 in the AP Poll and 7 in the Coaches Poll… Purdue remains tied with Ohio State, one loss more than Michigan State in the Big Ten standings; MSU’s final two games are against Illinois and at Wisconsin… Purdue’s next home opponent, Minnesota, will be without Amir Coffey who will be undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.
