Boiler Backcourt Leads The Way Versus Hated Hawkeyes
(Photo credit: Journal & Courier)
The easy story line for sports media types when they do their game prep for Purdue is the size and skill of the frontcourt...and while not many will deny the skill of Vince(nt) Edwards, the size and strength of Haas and the tenacity and toughness of Biggie, Purdue's shooters are an absolute mother to stop for opposition.
At the end of the non-con in 2015, Purdue was 13-1 and ranked in the low teens...BEFORE they faced Iowa to start the BT schedule. Iowa's press slaughtered Purdue last winter...then the Hawkeyes backed up a come-from-behind victory with a controlling win in which Purdue never really looked like they would win it. in other words, Matty's boys owed Fran's squad a bit of an ass-kicking...and tonight, they got their reckoning.
Purdue controlled this one from the jump. Carsen Edwards has been the change of pace that Painter, and this Purdue team has needed for a few seasons. He looks for his shot, is a half-step quicker than everybody, and really has no conscience after a miss. Tonight, he started the game with his own 8-0 run in front of a sold out Mackey Arena crowd...and Purdue never really looked back. C. Edwards finished with 19 points, 5 assists in 26 minutes of work.
And while Edwards is stealing the headlines on BTN and in other outlets, Mathias was the guy that was creating space for both Carsen and Vince(nt) to do their bidding. Dakota is generally efficient, but tonight, he started 4/5 from deep. He finished with 17 points and 4 assists.
And speaking of efficient, the Big Drago provided a bit of a knockout punch tonight. I listened to the game first (watched it on DVR a bit later), and enjoyed the Cliz remark, "This is like taking candy from a baby." following a pass to Haas and easy dunk. Haas only played 16 minutes, but pulled down 7 rebounds and scored 16 points on just nine shots.
Purdue controlled this one from start to finish...with a 31 point lead at times in the second half, the Forces of Good simply took the game out of Iowa's hands early by shooting around 55% from deep. They cooled a bit in the second half, but when you win a conference game 89-67 against anyone not in the state of New Jersey, it's a rare feat. The B1G is a mother...so don't discount the quality of this one.
One of our pals on Twitter remarked that Purdue's defense wasn't that great. True. I'd go a step further and say, I'd like to see the team control the glass even more than the did v. Iowa. BUT, when you have 27 assists, shoot over 50% from three (for most of the night), hit 90% of your free throws all while cutting down stupid turnovers (that we've seen from the bigs at times this season), you'll put an inordinate amount of pressure on your opponent. Purdue rattled Iowa early, and simply dug their heel into Iowa's throat.
I forgot to mention, Vince(nt) was silky smooth, yet rock solid off of the bench with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and just a single turnover. His lil' buddy PJ Thompson did what he does- makes his teammates better while not making many mistakes. Thompson finished with 6 assists and just one TO. Oh, and Biggie, while he didn't continue his 20/20 streak, he did record yet another double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds (and 3 assists...one of them was a crazy cross-court bounce pass through traffic to a slashing C. Edwards).
The point is, Purdue won, pretty much everyone played well and Matty continued to make smart personnel moves. He's allowing guys to play and he's allowing the team to mature defensively without stunting its offensive growth. This team is fun to watch...and wins games...and hasn't played their best game yet; that's fun to think about.
Next up, the Good Guys play Minnesota in their first contest of 2017 on NYD at 4:30.
