Purdue 83 Illinois 78

Purdue jumped out to an early lead and won a big game in the Big 10.

What Happened

Purdue scored 10 second chance points in the first 4 minutes to lead 14-4.

Illinois kept fighting until the end cutting the lead down to 3 late before needing to foul with with under 15 seconds left

Zach Edey did not score much in the first half as he was saddled with foul trouble. Purdue still led by 15 at half. Had to hold on late for the win

Key Stats

Statistically the game was quite even. They key was key stats that created spurts. Second chance points for Purdue, Points in the paint for Illinois when Edey was out of the game.

Key advantage for the Boilers was on the glass. Purdue out rebounded Illinois 43-28

Zach Edey notched his 1000 rebound. Only Joe Barry Carroll has done that at Purdue

Key Individual Performances

Trey Kaufman-Renn was stellar tonight for the Boilers with 23 points

Illinois’ Marcus Domask led the Illini attack with 26 points in 40 minutes

Braden Smith with 14 points and 6 assists

What it means

Purdue is an easy #1 overall seed at the moment. They have the resume and the look of the best team in the country

Illinois has the pieces to make the tournament even after losing a key player. They need to show the committee they can win consistently with the new lineup to be safe.

It will take a special effort to beat the Boilers unless they beat themselves with turnovers or mental errors.

Quotes

Purdue head coach Matt Painter “Make somebody make plays.” referring to late game fouling that helped Illinois get back in the game

Illinois Head Coach Brad Underwood “When you play Zach, you cant be normal, you have to make other players beat you”

Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn on the advantage on the glass “We are super competitive.  I knew they were a great rebounding team and I wanted to outrebound them by as many as we can”