- No. 5-ranked Purdue improved to 8-0 with an 89-70 win over Minnesota in the Big Ten opener for both teams at Mackey Arena, in front of 14,876 fans – the 45th consecutive sellout.
- The Boilermakers won their fourth straight Big Ten opener and improved to 12-2 under Matt Painter in the last 14 league openers. Overall, Purdue is 13-5 in Big Ten openers under Painter.
- The win improved Purdue's homecourt winning streak to 12 games. Purdue is 43-7 all-time against Minnesota in Mackey Arena.
- The Boilermakers are 8-0 for the second straight season, the first time since the 1992-93 (9-0) and 1993-94 (14-0) seasons that Purdue has started 8-0 in consecutive seasons. Last year's team started 8-0 before falling at Rutgers on Dec. 9, 2021.
- Purdue is 8-0 for just the sixth time since the 1938-39 season.
- Purdue shot 58.1 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 50.8 percent overall. Purdue also had 22 assists against seven turnovers and won the rebounding battle by 20 (41-21). In the last two meetings with Minnesota, Purdue has outrebounded the Golden Gophers by a combined 40 rebounds.
- Purdue made 16 free throws, while Minnesota shot just eight. On the season, Purdue has now made 137 free throws while opponents have shot just 87. Purdue is shooting 78.3 percent from the free throw line.
- Minnesota became the first team this season to shoot better than 42.0 percent against Purdue, clocking in at 47.5 percent. The 70 points tied a season-high allowed (Marquette).
- Purdue has won 43 straight games when scoring 80 or more points and is now 65-2 since the start of the 2017-18 season when reaching 80 points.
- Purdue has won 52 straight games when shooting at least 50.0 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from 3-point range and 70.0 percent from the free throw line. The last loss came on March 3, 2004.
- Zach Edey scored a career-high 31 points with a career-high 22 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. He recorded 22 rebounds while Minnesota as a team had 21. He becomes the only major-conference player to outrebound an opponent in a league game since 2009-10.
- He also attempted 10 free throws, making him the only player in the last 25 years to shoot more free throws than an opponent (Minnesota had 8) and outrebound an opponent.
- He is the first player nationally this season to have at least 31 points and 22 rebounds in the same game. He is one of just four players since 2010-11 to have a 31-point, 22-rebound game (North Carolina's Brice Johnson, Delaware State's Kendall Gray and Western Michigan's Seth Dugan).
- His two, 30-point games are second in the country behind Foster Loyer of Davidson (3). Meanwhile, Edey's five 20-10 games lead the country by two games over four different players.
- Edey is the first Purdue player to have at least 31 points and 22 rebounds since Terry Dischinger (46 pts, 22 rebs) against Minnesota on Feb. 24, 1962.
- Edey's seven straight games of 20 or more points is tied for the longest streak for a Purdue player since Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson scored 20-plus in 18 straight games during the 1993-94 season.
- Edey's seven straight games of 20 or more points are the second most for a 7-footer nationally in the last 25 years, behind Utah's Andrew Bogut in 2004-05 (8).
- Fletcher Loyer set career highs with 20 points and eight assists against no turnovers. The freshman from Fort Wayne is now averaging 12.4 points and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 19-of-49 (.388) from long distance.
- Trey Kaufman-Renn scored a career high with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in a career-high 28 minutes.
WEST LAFAYETE, Ind. -- Minnesota coach Ben Johnson isn't sure how anyone can slow down Purdue big man Zach Edey.
"I don't think there's a team in the country that has an answer," Johnson said.
The 7-foot-4 Edey set career highs with 31 points and 22 rebounds, powering No. 5 Purdue past Minnesota 89-70 Sunday in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Edey's previous career high for rebounds was 17.
"I have to guard (Edey) every day in practice, so I'm glad someone else is guarding him," Purdue's 6-foot-9 Trey Kaufman-Renn said.
Edey started slowly, making only one of his first seven shots. The junior dominated after that, finishing 11 of 23 from the field and 9 of 10 from the foul line.
"I thought my first few misses were shots I usually take, a few rolled in and out," Edey said. "I stuck with it and trusted my game and trusted my skills. Just kept shooting them and they eventually started falling."
Edey has scored at least 20 points in seven straight games. That tied JaJuan Johnson, who did it in 2010-11, for longest streak in Matt Painter's 18 years as Purdue coach.
Fletcher Loyer scored 20 on 7-of-11 shooting for Purdue (8-0). Brandon Newman had 13 and Kaufman-Renn and Caleb First each scored 10.
Furst started in place of Mason Gillis, who sat out with a minor back injury. Painter said Gillis injured his back lifting weights.
"With Mason out, who is such a hard player and leader for us, we needed guys to step up and Trey and Caleb did a great job with that," Loyer said.
Loyer said he was able to score in transition.
"Zach is such a force in the middle that I just attacked the weak side and get to the rim is what I had to do to help the team win," Loyer said.
Jamison Battle led the Golden Gophers (4-4) with 21 points, hitting five of 10 3-pointers. Ta'Lon Cooper added 15 points for Minnesota.
"I thought the ball was moving more than it has, which is good," Johnson said.
The Boilermakers used a 15-0 run to take 42-20 lead with 1:34 left in the half. Minnesota scored the final seven points before the break.
"We had a few lapses, but for the most part they were making those long contested two-pointers we wanted them to take," Edey said of the Gophers shooting 53% in the second half.
Edey outrebounded Minnesota as a team as Purdue held a 41-21 rebounding edge. That led to Purdue's 17-2 advantage in second-chance points.
"The most impressive thing to me was his ability to go get rebounds in and around people," Painter said. "A lot of time you get bottled up and when you have that size, it's hard to have the balance and still explode and get the basketball."
BIG PICTURE
Minnesota: The Golden Gophers lost their third in a row overall. They've dropped four of their last five against Purdue.
Purdue: With two victories, Purdue figures to remain the top five. The Boilermakers, who were ranked as high as No. 1 last season, have been ranked in the top five in consecutive years for the first time since the 1986-87 and 1987-88. The Boilermakers have spent 13 of the past 23 AP polls ranked in the top five. The only team with more weeks in top five is Gonzaga (22).