No. 3 Purdue Basketball Fends Off Penn State, Wins Shootout 74-67 On The Road
STATE COLLEGE, Penn. — In its first road victory of the season, Purdue basketball went blow for blow against Penn State until the very end. The Boilermakers overcame foul trouble and a red-hot Nittany Lions offense down the stretch in a 74-69 victory Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania.
The team was led by senior forward Trevion Williams, who recorded a team-high 21 points and nine rebounds despite finishing the game with four fouls. Purdue had four players end in double figures, which included a career-high 14 points from sophomore forward Mason Gillis.
Purdue (13-2, 2-2 in the Big Ten) found itself going back and forth with Penn State (7-6, 2-3) until about midway through the first half. With just under 12 minutes to play in the opening period, the Nittany Lions went on a 9-0 run to gain a seven-point lead.
Painter was forced to call a timeout, and the Boilermakers came out of the break with a run of their own. They scored nine straight points before senior guard Jalen Pickett scored for the Nittany Lions to end the streak.
Pickett led all scorers at the break with 12 points, shooting 5-of-11 from the field and dishing out six assists. He finished the game with 21 points for Penn State.
Williams and sophomore center Zach Edey were plagued by foul calls in the first half, combining for five before halftime. Both players were forced to the bench before the second period, bringing freshman forward Caleb Furst into the game in their place.
Even with Edey and Williams on the bench due to foul trouble, Purdue scored six straight points to end the first half, taking a 35-30 lead into the locker room. Both teams shot 43% from the field, but the Boilermakers made four 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes to give them an edge.
Senior guard Sasha Stefanovic and sophomore forward Mason Gillis led the team with eight points apiece. Ivey and Williams each added seven, and both players snatched four rebounds in the first half.
At the start of the second half, Purdue jumped ahead to a 10-point lead, forcing Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry to call a timeout. The Boilermakers led by as many as 13 in the matchup, but a flurry of 3-pointers from the Nittany Lions helped them claw back into the game.
After starting the game 1-9 from the 3-point line, Penn State scored seven of its next eight shots from deep. The Nittany Lions, on the shoulders of nine straight baskets, managed to take the lead by one point with under four minutes to play.
But Purdue didn’t back down and fed the ball inside to Williams, who made two huge baskets at the end of the game to put the Boilermakers back on top. He backed into the lane, matched up against Penn State senior forward John Harrar, and put in a basket with a foul.
Williams’ free-throw attempt gave him his final point of the afternoon and the team a five-point lead with just over a minute to play. The Nittany Lions missed on their final five shots to end the game, giving the Boilermakers a victory.
Purdue has now won 16 straight games when winning at halftime, and the team is scheduled to play Michigan on the road Tuesday.
Stories Related to Purdue Basketball
- PURDUE, PENN STATE LIVE BLOG: No. 3 Purdue basketball looked to bounce back Saturday in a matchup with Penn State on the road. Before Saturday, three of the Boilermakers' last four victories at the Bryce Jordan Center have come in overtime. CLICK HERE
- TOM BREW COLUMN: Micah Shrewsberry grew up as an Indiana kid, and this week the first-year Penn State coach gets to host both Indiana and Purdue in Happy Valley in the same week. That's a lot of emotion for the former IU fan and Purdue basketball assistant coach. CLICK HERE
- PURDUE TRIO NAMED TO WOODEN AWARD MIDSEASON WATCH LIST: Jaden Ivey, Zach Edey and Trevion Williams were among 25 players named to the John R. Wooden award midseason watch list. No other program has more than two players recognized, and the trio has led Purdue to a 12-2 overall record. CLICK HERE
- WISCONSIN UPSETS PURDUE: Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis scored 37 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help the No. 23-ranked Badgers upset No. 3 Purdue at Mackey Arena on Monday night. The 74-69 loss snapped a 13-game home winning streak for the Boilermakers. CLICK HERE
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.