No. 3 Purdue Left Searching for More Physicality, Toughness in Loss to No. 23 Wisconsin
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Before every game, Purdue coach Matt Painter lists the expectations for his team on offense and defense. In the middle of those two columns, he simply writes “just play hard.”
Against Wisconsin, Painter said to embrace the physicality of the game. But after earning an undefeated record in nonconference matchups to start the season, the Boilermakers struggled to exhibit the toughness needed to grind out a victory against a ranked Big Ten opponent.
No. 23 Wisconsin — led by sophomore guard Johnny Davis’ 37 points and 14 rebounds — was the more physical team, which was the reason it handed the No. 3-ranked Purdue basketball team a 74-69 loss at Mackey Arena. The loss ended a 13-game win streak at home for the Boilermakers, and now they sit at 1-2 in conference play.
“I feel like they out-toughed us the entire game and just played harder,” Purdue sophomore center Zach Edey said after leading the team with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Earlier in the year, Purdue narrowly defeated Iowa at Mackey Arena to open up Big Ten play. The 77-70 victory came just days before the team was stunned by Rutgers by a buzzer-beater 3-pointer on the road.
The Boilermakers were unable to flip the script against the Badgers, playing themselves into another closely-contested matchup in which neither team ever held a double-digit lead. Wisconsin shut down the duo of Edey and senior forward Trevion Williams in the first half, and Purdue scored just four points in the paint during the first 20 minutes of play.
The Boilermakers managed only 24 points in the first half, the lowest of the season, hitting just 7-of-24 from the field. The Badgers took advantage of four offensive rebounds and seven second-chance points before halftime to take a five-point lead into the locker room.
“At the start of the game, I wasn’t tough at all,” Edey said. “I was getting pushed around a little bit, and I was missing easy shots — shots that I should make every time. In the second half, I realized what I did wrong. I brought a little more toughness in the second half.”
Wisconsin needed all the players it could muster to slow down Edey’s scoring output in the second half. By the end of the game, the Badgers had three members of their frontcourt foul out. But the Boilermakers needed all of Edey’s points just to contend with Davis’ career night.
It was chippy at times, as the two teams combined for 39 fouls. But it was the Badgers that were able to silence the home crowd time and time again with constant effort and big plays down the stretch.
Despite ranking 11th in the Big Ten in rebounding entering the matchup, Wisconsin held the advantage on the glass for most of the game. It also matched Purdue with 28 points in the paint by the time the final buzzer sounded.
“We needed to play physical, and we did,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said. “We had a lot of guys that stepped in and maximized their opportunities.”
Purdue, after shooting just 41% against Wisconsin and turning the ball over 12 times, will look to dial in for back-to-back road matchups against Penn State and Michigan over the next week. The team’s only victories away from Mackey Arena have come on neutral courts.
The Boilermakers were given a lesson in physicality, and they’ll have to reach another gear to take down opponents in the Big Ten with consistency. This group, which came into the season with sky-high expectations, will need to discover its identity in order to prove itself as the top team in the conference.
“Just trying to get them, from a preparation standpoint, more dialed in and just being a tougher team,” Painter said. “Right now, we’re searching for that. We’re searching for that from a defensive standpoint, and Johnny Davis Really exposed that.”
Stories Related to Purdue Basketball
- WISCONSIN STUNS PURDUE AT HOME: 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
- PURDUE, WISCONSIN LIVE BLOG: No. 3 Purdue basketball resumed Big Ten play Monday night at Mackey Arena against No. 23 Wisconsin. Relive the matchup with our blog, live from press row. 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.