Purdue's Veterans Provide 2nd Half Lift in Double-Digit Win Over Washington
Is it overly cliche to refer to No. 17 Purdue's 69-58 win over Washington on Wednesday as the tale of two halves? That feels like the only appropriate way to describe the Boilermakers' performance at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Wednesday's game started out ugly for Purdue. After taking an early 6-1 lead in the first three minutes, the Boilermakers went ice cold from the floor. Washington took a 14-12 advantage at the 10:47 mark in the first half, thanks to a 3-pointer from Great Osobor. At one point, the Huskies stretched the lead to 10 points.
By halftime, the Huskies owned a 30-22 advantage on the Boilermakers. Purdue had made just eight-of-22 shots from the floor and didn't connect on a bucket from 3-point range. It looked like Matt Painter's team was suffering from jetlag.
It was a different story in the second half. Braden Smith knocked down the game's first triple, sandwiched between a pair of Trey Kaufman-Renn buckets out of the locker room, making the score 30-29 at the 17:17 mark.
Less than two minutes later, Purdue had regained the lead at 33-32, thanks to another basket from Kaufman-Renn. After trading leads a few times, a made shot from Caleb Furst sparked a 13-0 run, giving the Boilers a 48-36. They never looked back.
On the scoreboard, it looked like another convincing Purdue victory. The Boilermakers secured their sixth straight win — all by double digits — and improved to 14-4 overall and 6-1 in Big Ten play.
But this was an ugly, grind-it-out type of game for Purdue. For the second time in three games, the Boilers shot poorly from 3-point range, making just three-of-13 from behind the arc. They converted on just four-of-24 shots from distance in an 68-50 win over Rutgers last Thursday.
Purdue also had to lean heavily on its veteran leaders on Wednesday — emphasis on "heavily."
Kaufman-Renn led the way with 19 points and Smith scored 17. Caleb Furst had a season-high 15 points and Fletcher Loyer dropped in 12. Combined, the four accounted for 63 of Purdue's 69 points.
Sophomores Myles Colvin (four) and Cam Heide (two) accounted for the other six points.
Osobor was the heavy hitter for the Huskies, scoring 28 points and knocking down all five shots from 3-point range. He also had nine rebounds and four assists. Mekhi Mason came off the bench to give Washington 12 points.
Life is never easy in Big Ten road games, a lesson Purdue has learned recently. Although they haven't had the prettiest performances in recent wins over Rutgers and Washington, they still count as victories.
And when you're in the race for a conference championship, you'll take road wins however you can get them.
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