No. 5 Purdue Takes Big Ten Lead With Convincing Win Over Red-Hot Rutgers
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The dog days of February can be taxing, so Purdue coach Matt Painter gave his players a day off on Thursday, hoping the rest would allow for fresh legs in Sunday's huge showdown with red-hot Rutgers.
It worked. Bounding up and down the floor, the fifth-ranked Boilermakers rode the coattails of star Jaden Ivey to knock off Rutgers 84-72 at Mackey Arena, moving into the first place in the Big Ten in the process.
"That day off definitely helped us early, because I thought we had fresh legs,'' Purdue guard Sasha Stefanovic. ''They're a tough team and we wanted to get after them early,''
Purdue is now 24-4 overall and 13-4 in the Big Ten, a half game ahead of both Illinois (12-4) and Wisconsin. Rutgers, which had just beaten four straight ranked teams, fell to 16-10 overall and 10-6 in the league.
"That's the greatest Quad 2 win in the history of college basketball,'' Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "That team is really good and if they aren't good enough to play in the NCAA Tournament, this it's going to be the greatest tournament ever. They're good, and they are capable of winning games in the tournament, too.''
It was a great start to a tough home stretch for the Boilers. Purdue's four-game set to end the regular season features three teams — Rutgers, Wisconsin and Indiana — that already have beaten the Boilermakers this season. The Scarlet Knights were the first to do it, beating the then No. 1-ranked Boilers on Dec. 8 on Ron Harper Jr.'s half-court heave at the buzzer.
Purdue players haven't talked about revenge because the goal — winning the Big Ten regular season title — is more important. So they were energized right from the get-go because of all that was at stake.
And they knew that Rutgers — which had beaten four ranked teams on its way to Mackey Arena, the first unranked team in college basketball history to ever do that — was going to give them their best shot.
The Boilermakers' offense, ranked sixth in the nation at 82.1 points per game, can generate points in bunches, and they did that right out of the gate, hitting five three-pointers in the first six minutes to grab a quick nine-point lead.
The lead reached 11 points (26-15) before Rutgers started chipping away and got back into the game. Ron Harper Jr., who was questionable with a left hand injury and was a game-time decision on Sunday, scored on a layup with 3:22 to go to get the Scarlet Knights within one at 34-33.
But sophomore Jaden Ivey, Purdue's leading scorer, took matters into his own hands to close out the half. He drove to the basket twice and was fouled, hitting all four free throws. Then he got a steal and went the length of the court for a dunk, and was fouled again. He made the free throw to put the Boilers up 41-35. He was fouled again after another turnover and hit two more free throws with 30 seconds left in the half. Purdue left 45-36 at the break.
The Boilers came out firing to start the second half as well, and their lead was quickly up to 20 points thanks to an 11-0 run out of the break. Ivey and 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey had four points each in the run, and senior guard Sasha Stefanovic hit a three-pointer as well.
Rutgers got the lead back down to 10 points when Paul Mulcahy hit a three-pointer with 9:09 to go to make it 62-52, but the Knights would get no closer.
Ivey led the Boilers with 25 points, and made 15-of-18 free throws. Edey added 15, and Trevion Williams and Sasha Stefanovic added 11. Mason Gillis was also in double figures as well, scoring 10 points.
Purdue shot 53.1 percent from the game and made 24-of-29 free throws, good for 82.8 percent. Williams and Edey, Purdue's twin towers in the middle, were a combined 10-of-14 from the field, and got good looks.
“We just tried to be patient,'' Williams said. "A lot of teams know that if you leave me and Zach one-on-one, we’re going to score. We make a lot of teams make decisions, and we can play inside-out. We're tough to handle that way.''
The big guys also made good decisions, committing just two turnovers with seven assists. Purdue had just seven turnovers all night and did a great job of handling Rutgers' press. That was a problem in the earlier loss at Rutgers, where they committed 12 turnovers that day, many of them late when the Scarlet Knights made their rally.
“We’re not schematically doing anything different, it’s just confidence,'' Painter said of his press-breakers. "Eric Hunter has done a good job and guys are doing a good job of making their flashes.
“Any time we spend time (working on it), we’re fine. When you’ve been practicing for five months, you’re not going to spend two or three hours on their press now. But we took some time on it (this week) and it helped.''
Paul Mulcahy led Rutgers with 15 points. Ron Harper Jr. added 12.
Related stories on Purdue basketball
- JADEN IVEY AGGRESSIVE IN PURDUE WIN OVER RUTGERS: Purdue sophomore guard Jaden Ivey scored a team-high 25 points in an 84-72 victory over Rutgers on Sunday at Mackey Arena. He was 15-of-18 from the free-throw line and threw down a highlight-reel dunk to help the Boilermakers snap the Scarlet Knight's four-game winning streak. CLICK HERE
- LIVE BLOG: Here is our live blog, where you can follow along with all the news and views in real time live from press row. CLICK HERE
- TOM BREW COLUMN: Purdue has a lot of goals this season, but one that's always near the top is winning a Big Ten regular-season title. For senior guard Sasha Stefanovic, finishing strong in this last four-game stretch is huge, especially now that they've worked their way back to the top of the Big Ten standings. CLICK HERE
- BOILERS DOUBLE-DIGIT FAVORITE: Rutgers was the first team to beat Purdue this season, back in December when the Boilermakers had just ascended to No. 1 in the country, and now Purdue gets a chance at revenge on Sunday. They have opened as a huge double-digit favorite, which is something of a surprise. CLICK HERE
- DAY OFF HELPED BOILERS: Purdue basketball earned a much-needed day off Thursday ahead of a matchup with Rutgers on Sunday at Mackey Arena. It was the first break for the players after a 23-day stretch that included eight games. CLICK HERE
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who's worked at some America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Indianapolis Star. He also owns the book publishing company, Hilltop30 Publishing Group, and he has written four books and published 16 others.