No. 3 Purdue Basketball Holds off Maryland for 58-55 Victory at Home
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — After leading by as many as 16 points, Purdue basketball's cushion diminished, but the team managed to overcome the pressure of a stingy Maryland defense to escape with a 58-55 win Sunday at Mackey Arena.
The No. 3-ranked Boilermakers were led by junior center Zach Edey’s team-high 24 points and 16 rebounds as the team tallied 15 turnovers in the matchup. They made just one field goal in the final 10 minutes of play but made their last eight free throws to end the game.
“We had to adjust through a couple different things, man or zone,” said Purdue freshman point guard Braden Smith, who had three turnovers. “Just trying to adjust and figure it out from there. I think me, personally, limiting the turnovers. That’s my job, first of all. And second of all, I should be better than that.”
Maryland came to West Lafayette looking to establish a physical presence on the defensive end of the court, but the decision to take the battle straight to Edey and Purdue initially backfired as it picked up six fouls in the first seven minutes of play.
The Boilermakers remained poised and under control while combating the Terrapins, going ahead 11-2 to open the game. The team featured a balanced attack before halftime as all nine players who stepped onto the court scored.
Purdue shot 13-of-26 in the opening period and hit several tough baskets late in the shot clock. Freshman guard Fletcher Loyer, who scored all seven of his points in the first half, banked a 3-pointer off the glass in the face of a Maryland defender.
Loyer later assisted senior guard David Jenkins Jr. on a 3-pointer in transition that put the Boilermakers ahead 25-9 with 10:52 left before halftime. The Terrapins were forced to call a 30-second timeout facing their largest deficit of the game.
“I thought starting the game we were really active,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “We had great activity on the defensive end just with our hands and making it hard, not letting them get in those sweet spots in the post.
“They were good, our guys were really good. They were flying around, they were contesting high. But when you play a team like Maryland, you know they’re going to make that run at you.”
Over the next nine minutes of action, Purdue made just one shot from the field but went 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the same span.
The Boilermakers went into the locker room with a 35-21 advantage. Edey led the way with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, which included a putback dunk before the buzzer. He also added seven rebounds in the half.
However, the Terrapins started to turn things around at the start of the second half, scoring the first seven points in the period to shrink the lead to single digits for the first time since the 13-minute mark in the first half.
“If we could figure out how to play our second halves and our first halves, we would be a really good road team,” Maryland coach Kevin Willard said. “I think the effort was great, we had our chances. We had a couple good looks in the second half. I thought all the kids on both teams played their hearts out. I thought it was a great college game.”
Faced with a zone defense, Purdue missed its first four shot attempts after returning to the floor, and Maryland used another 7-0 run to get within five points of tying the game. Edey seemed to be the only player in a groove, and he responded by scoring on nine of the team’s first 13 points after halftime.
Maryland finished with three scorers in double figures, as sophomore forward Julian Reese and senior guard Hakim Hart spearheaded the team’s offense to put up 19 and 11 points, respectively.
Graduate guard Jahmir Young was defended closely by Purdue junior guard Ethan Morton for most of the afternoon. He scored just 10 points on 4-of-18 shooting and went 0-of-6 from the 3-point line.
“He was able to get away from us a little bit in the second half,” Morton said of Young, who entered the game averaging 15.8 points for the Terrapins. “We knew we weren’t going to hold them down forever, just some lapses on our part in the second half.
“But I think we showed a good fight. Just every time they scored or went on a run, getting a stop or getting an easy bucket to stop the bleeding. Definitely a lot of things to clean up for us.”
The Terrapins scored nine fastbreak points and added another 13 off the 15 turnovers by the Boilermakers. But as both teams struggled from the field, they scored four points apiece in the final four minutes.
Smith registered all eight of his points from the foul line while going 0-of-4 from the field. He and Edey combined for Purdue’s final 14 points as the team improved to 19-1 overall and 8-1 in Big Ten play.
The Boilermakers are 4-1 in league matchups that came down to one possession this season, their only loss being a one-point decision against Rutgers on Jan. 2 at home.
“It’s a fine line. You’re one possession better, but if you’re one possession worse we’re losing that game,” Painter said. “Give Maryland credit, I thought they were really good in the second half. I think we helped them just struggling to pass and catch.
“For us, it put us in a hole. And then it just seemed like we were playing tired. They got the energy all of a sudden and we didn’t. But more than anything, taking care of the basketball and giving us a chance to score.”
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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.