Purdue Dominates Iowa to Kick Off the New Year
By Keith Carrell (@BoilerColts)
ISL Purdue Columnist
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Nine Seconds. There isn’t much that can be done in that amount of time (unless your Pacers’ great, Reggie Miller — he can do eight terrific things in that time), but that’s all the time Purdue’s Carsen Edwards needed Thursday night to define the game against Iowa. With nine seconds remaining in the opening half, Iowa’s Maishe Dailey put up a jumper that grazed the front of the rim, Edwards grabbed the rebound and sliced his way through defenders to put up a half-ending layup that gave the Boilers a 52-35 lead as they trotted into the locker room.
So often this season, the Boilermakers have fallen in love with the three pointer and it has cost them a win on more than one occasion, but against Iowa they pounded the ball into the paint again and again… and again. Whether it’s personnel (Edwards and Ryan Cline have the ability to drill the long ball with frequency, they were in the top three of duos in Division I in terms of made threes heading into the Iowa game) or the lack of a bulky, towering presence at center for the first time in a long time, Purdue seemingly forgets there are other ways to score in the paint, but Thursday night was not one of those nights.
Of Purdue’s first twelve points, six were from layups by either Edwards or Nojel Eastern and that merely set the tone for the evening. By halftime, Purdue had 26 points in the paint, was shooting over 63% from the floor and made nine of their ten free throws. Not only that, but of their 19 made field goals, 13 were assisted and they committed only three turnovers; it was the best and cleanest half of basketball by Purdue of the season.
“You can take this shot and be contested or you can break people down and get your layup, or get fouled, or get somebody a better shot than the one that you could have by just pulling up and shooting it.”
-Purdue head coach, Matt Painter on Purdue’s penchant for pushing the ball inside against Iowa
The second half began to appear a bit dicey as Iowa earned some favorable calls by the officials. In just over a minute, Purdue had already picked up four fouls and saw their lead cut to twelve. Before the first media timeout of the second half, Purdue had picked up fouls number five and six, but had pushed the lead out to 21 (including six more points in the paint). What could have spelled disaster for Purdue in the form of a bonus free throw bonanza for the Hawkeyes was averted by locking in, committing to running solid offense, and playing clean basketball on defense. Purdue wouldn’t pick up their seventh foul for another five minutes and wouldn’t pick up their eighth until 4:34 was left in the game.
Purdue saw its lead increase to as many as 26, twice, before slowing the offensive game down with the bench playing extended minutes and late jumpers becoming the norm. That offense paired with Iowa pushing the ball down low to, big man, Tyler Cook (24 points, six boards, two blocks) saw the Hawkeyes begin to slowly chip away at the lead, but never seriously threatened Purdue, narrowing the margin to the game’s final score, 86-70.
Although this was a resounding win for Purdue, it was also familiar territory for Iowa. This marked the eleventh game in a row in which the Hawkeyes have trailed by at least 17 on the road against Big Ten foes. This was also the third consecutive game in which Iowa has been without the services of typical starter, Luka Garza (sprained ankle). While the win moves the Boilers to 2-1 in the Big Ten and their second victory over an AP top 25 team, it also marks the third loss in as many tries by Iowa in the Big Ten to start the conference season.
It’s truly starting to feel like this is the Purdue team that everyone expected to see at the beginning of the year and it just took more time than many were anticipating. There were a lot of challenges with a difficult schedule that saw the losses pile up, but if the past three games since the lackluster loss to Notre Dame are any indication of what this Purdue team can be, then there is still reason to be optimistic about an NCAA tournament berth come March. Purdue takes a 9-5 record on the road to East Lansing and Madison next for another pair of challenging games that will likely uncover the truth about this Boilermaker squad, good or bad, before they return home to face Rutgers.
Prior to tipoff, Purdue had a tribute video celebrating the life of Tyler Trent, whose story is nationally known at this point, as he passed away the day prior. Following the video, a moment of silence was held for the Purdue super fan, prior student, and eternal Boilermaker. His story touched so many that both the Purdue and Iowa basketball teams wore warm-up shirts that referenced the #TylerStrong movement and Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery even wore a button emblazoning T2. The cheerleaders were also donning TylerStrong shirts, a single rose and sign remembering Trent were placed in front of the Paint Crew section, and Purdue President Mitch Daniels had a poetic statement remembering and honoring Trent during the first media timeout.
But Trent’s story hasn’t touched just those on campus; Drew Brees, Colts head coach Frank Reich, ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, and countless others have had messages, tweets, and more honoring Trent for his courage and toughness in dealing with his rare form of cancer. The Purdue tribute video ended by saying that Trent is “forever our captain” and when the ball was tipped, Purdue did right by their captain with a hard-fought, decisive win.
“You asked for (Trent’s) impact he’s had on this Purdue community, but I think it’s really the impact he’s had across the country, especially people in sports. He’s heavy on our hearts, but it’s just understanding his fight and we’ll forever be thinking about him.”
-Carsen Edwards
Next up:
Away: #8 Michigan State on Tuesday, 1/8 (9 pm, ESPN2)
Away: #22 Wisconsin on Friday, 1/11 (9 pm, FS1)
Home: Rutgers on Tuesday, 1/15 (7 pm, BTN)
Quick Hits:
Evan Boudreaux started at the center position for the third straight game, all wins… Matt Haarms blocked two shots, moving him over 100 for his career at Purdue… The Boiler bench contributed their highest point total of the season, 39… Purdue outscored Iowa in some key categories: in the paint (42-30), off turnovers (23-4), from the bench (39-10), and from three (27-18)… Purdue finished with 22 assists (on 33 buckets) and only seven turnovers… All ten Boilers that played scored at least three points, led by Edwards’ 21… Five Boilers had at least three rebounds, led by five each from Edwards, Boudreaux, and Haarms… Cline led the team with six assists and committed no turnovers… Haarms has found some comfort and embraced his role coming off the bench as he also chipped in 14 points, including 6-6 from the charity stripe… Purdue held Iowa to 13 points below their average and didn’t allow a three point make in the second half (seven attempts)… All ten of Iowa’s bench point came from Ryan Kriener.
