Purdue Holds off Davidson, 69-61

Photo Credit: IG, BoilerBall

Purdue was never really able to pull away Saturday against Davidson. A hot start by the Boilermakers was then matched by a run by the Wildcats, and so would be the tale of that game in Indianapolis. Purdue would score, gain some momentum, and then…go cold, do very little, and Davidson would come right on back, even so far as to take a 1-point lead a couple times late in the first half.

Despite Purdue’s success so far this season, it’s worth noting that this is still a very young team, starting two true freshmen, and having another two redshirt freshmen and a brand-new transfer coming off the bench. That’s a lot of burden placed on the shoulders of those who haven’t been here, not yet. And so far this season, those freshmen have risen to the challenge, but even so, they’re bound to struggle from time to time. And tonight, although Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer contributed a total of 24 points, 14 points, and seven rebounds, it was their shooting woes that told the tale of the game. The two starting freshmen were a combined 4-19 from the field, 2-12 from three. And while they still contributed greatly to the win tonight, that wasn’t necessarily true of others. Purdue, for the first time this season, failed to get a single bench field goal, with the bench players going a combined 0-13 from the field. The lone point scored by the bench was a free throw made by Brandon Newman.

So under these circumstances, how was Purdue still able to win, by nearly double digits at that? The answer, as it has been often this season and will no doubt continue to be, was Zach Edey. Edey had an outstanding game, going 9-11 from the field, grabbing 16 rebounds, and hitting 11 of his 15 free throw attempts, pouring in a fantastic stat line of 29 and 16, to go with three assists, a block, and only one turnover and one foul. Whereas in the last game or two Edey has at times appeared rushed when passing out of the double team, tonight he was patient and made the right play almost every time. The #BoiledSportsAnalyticsDesk doesn’t track hockey assists, but if they did, I’d imagine he had several tonight as well.

Or would have, had Purdue’s shooters made their shots. Nights like tonight do happen on occasion. It’s part of growing as a team, as this Boilermaker squad has really retooled from last year’s electric team. December can be a grind for teams; the semester is ending, players are preparing for the holiday break, opposing coaches have had more tape to plan against the squad, conference season is just around the corner…but it’s how teams respond when things aren’t going well that determines the trajectory of their season. And this Purdue team responded by focusing on the thing they have that no one else, much less an undersized Davidson team, has in Zach Edey. Feed the big man, watch him go to work. Purdue held Davidson to just seven offensive rebounds, and when you one-and-done your opponent, you can survive even the toughest outings.

Next up is New Orleans on the 21st, and Purdue is looking at a few lower conference teams before their first real challenge of the new year on January 2nd against Rutgers. Let’s hope they can continue to hold onto the #1 ranking even longer still.