Trevion Williams, Zach Edey Combine for 38 Points as No. 6 Purdue Dominates Wright State
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue senior Trevion Williams had his back to the basket while clutching the basketball with both hands, analyzing the defense in the second half of the team’s matchup with Wright State.
He faked a pass to shoo away an incoming double team and spun past his defender before throwing down an easy dunk.
The bucket might not have made a difference in the outcome of a blowout victory, but it still had plenty of value. Williams became the 54th player in program history to score 1,000 points as a Boilermaker.
1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ on a DUNK!
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) November 17, 2021
✅: @twill___ the 54th Boilermaker to score 1000 career points. pic.twitter.com/iCo1Y7zOX0
“It’s a great achievement for me,” Williams said. “I put the work in, and I’ve dedicated myself. I sacrificed to get my body right and prepare for team’s like this and moments like this. I’m a senior now, I’ve been through it. I’m glad to reach that milestone, and why not add more to it?”
Throughout the start of the 2021-22 season, Williams has come off the bench for the Boilermakers, subbing in for sophomore center Zach Edey. It’s a role that he’s taken willingly to help the program win games.
The rotation between Edey and Williams in the frontcourt was too much to handle for Wright State in No. 6 Purdue basketball’s 96-52 victory Tuesday night at Mackey Arena. The duo combined for 38 points on 16-of-23 shooting. Both players recorded a double-double in the team’s third win of the season.
Williams, who has dazzled fans with pinpoint passes in the first two games of the year, asserted himself as a force underneath the basket for the Boilermakers. He scored a team-high 20 points against the Raiders.
It was a season-best scoring output for the 6-foot-10 forward, and he also added a team-high 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. While Williams may have shot the ball more Tuesday, he still made his fair share of passes, leading Purdue with three assists.
“I feel like that’s kind of what completes me,” Williams said of his willingness to pass. “Obviously I’m not one dimensional, but it’s a huge part of my game. The way I was raised, the way I was taught how to play basketball, I was taught to use passing.”
His style creates change-of-pace for Purdue when Edey comes off the floor. At 7-foot-4, Edey has been a dominant force in the Boilermakers’ first three games of the season. He posted a career-high 22 points to go along with 10 rebounds in a 92-67 win over Indiana State last Friday.
After an 18-point performance on Tuesday, he leads the team with more than 18 points per game. Edey also leads the team with more than 12 rebounds per contest. He and Williams helped the Boilermakers to a 56-23 rebounding advantage in the victory over the Raiders.
In the first half, Williams and Edey could not be stopped, with each player tallying 12 points before heading to the locker room with a 51-17 lead. By the end of the game, they combined for 12 offensive rebounds to contribute to 31 second-chance points for the Boilermakers.
On both ends of the floor, Purdue’s frontcourt was effective at coming away with the basketball, and that resulted in the team’s largest margin of victory so far this season.
“If you can hold them to one shot and dominate the glass, and then get opportunities at the other end from that, you’re just going to put yourself in a great position,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “Whether it’s transition or rebounding, you gotta be able to steal points against great teams.”
Williams and Edey showcased their ability to snatch rebounds with ease, but their dominance starts in practice. The two big men go head-to-head every day and do anything but take it easy on each other.
“We just beat each other up,” Edey said of his battles with Williams. “It’s not like we’re taking anything off in practice. We go just as hard in practice as we do in the games.
“We might even go harder in practice, honestly, because we don’t have refs. We just hit each other, we drop our shoulders, stuff like that. It’s how they want us to play, it’s how it helps us in a game. We’re used to getting beaten up now.”
They’re going to need to be at their best when Purdue takes part in the 2021 Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament this Saturday. The team is scheduled to play No. 18 North Carolina at 4 p.m. ET. No. 5 Villanova and No. 17 Tennessee will also be in attendance.
Related Stories on Purdue Basketball
- PURDUE, WRIGHT STATE GAME STORY: No. 6-ranked Purdue had another blowout win on Tuesday, spanking Wright State 96-52 and continuing to look like one of the best teams in the country. We'll find out much more this weekend. CLICK HERE
- PURDUE, WRIGHT STATE LIVE BLOG: Purdue basketball earned its 11th 3-0 start under head coach Matt Painter on Tuesday during a matchup with Wright State at Mackey Arena. 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.