Purdue needed to play better at the guard spot to get to where it wants to be as a program. Enter, Lance Jones, who along with back court mate Braden Smith, came up big in the second half for Purdue as Purdue ran the Maui Invitational gauntlet to beat the #11, #7, and #4 teams in the country over three days in Honolulu.
#2 Purdue won against Marquette, 78-75.
But Purdue’s ascension to #1 on Monday will be about one man, #15 Zach Edey, who confirmed that he is the nation’s most dominant player and he only needs a little help for Purdue to be the nation’s best team.
Zach Edey was phenomenal, scoring 28 points and grabbing 15 rebounds for his third straight double-double in the tournament.
With the game hanging in the balance and less than thirty seconds to play, Braden Smith was forced to take a tough three-pointer. He missed, but as he was all tournament, Edey was there to get to the miss. Edey tipped it in and Purdue would get to their winning score, 78-75.
Braden Smith just has something to him when he plays Marquette. After setting his career-high last year, he had 18 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds against Marquette in a marquee match up with Tyler Kolek who looked like every bit the best point guard in college, going 22, 7, and 6 in return.
But Smith wasn’t alone. Lance Jones, who ended the first half with a three-quarter shot, had 11 points and knocked down three three-pointers. Fletcher Loyer kept his good play up, going for 10 points.
Purdue had one of its best shooting performances around Edey, making 10 of 21 three-pointers but it was Purdue’s big man and offensive rebounding that pulled it out for Purdue who continues to be unbeatable in non-conference play.
Purdue dominated Marquette on the offensive glass, outscoring them 20-4 in second chance points. 13 offensive rebounds for Purdue kept the Golden Eagles at bay even though Marquette was able to cut a 12 point lead at half down to one late in the game.
After three straight games in three days against Top-11 opponents, Purdue came out looking like a team with experience and depth. It also looked like a team that had college basketball’s most imposing force in Zach Edey.
Marquette looked like a team playing on tired legs, on the third leg of a tournament that saw them play UCLA and win to earn the right to take on the #1 team Kansas yesterday, and #2 team Purdue the next day. Shaka Smart’s 7-man rotation showed its first sign of wear, and when Oso Ighodaro got his second foul with 14 minutes remaining in the half, Smart was forced to play small, too small, to keep up with a Purdue team that had more juice getting to rebounds.
It also helped that after a strong 8-4 start by Marquette, Purdue couldn’t miss from three.
Purdue was 7 of 9 from three in the first half while Marquette shot 1 of 7 from three.
All threes might be worth the same amount of points, but some are louder, and longer than others.
Purdue finished the first half with a 45-33 lead after Lance Jones in bounded the ball with 2.5 seconds remaining, launched a three from the opposing wing, and rattled in the 60-footer to give Purdue its biggest lead of the half.
But it was Edey’s dominance early and often that created the separation for Purdue.
Oso Ighodaro had two fouls in the first half, David Joplin had two fouls, Kam Jones had two fouls, and Ben Gold committed 3 fouls in 8 minutes of action.
Edey had 13 points and 8 rebounds in the first half, but it was an all-around effort for Purdue on the scoring end. Six Boilers had 5 or more points in the first half, and all six starters had at least six, including Fletcher Loyer with 7 and Braden Smith with 8.
Tyler Kolek tried to hold Marquette’s offense together, scoring 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting and Marquette’s offense was efficient shooting just under 50%, but when Purdue missed, it was getting the ball back.
Purdue had 11 second chance points to Marquette’s 2.
