- Purdue improved to 18-1 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten with a 61-39 win over Minnesota at Williams Arena on Thursday night.
- The win was Purdue's fifth in a row and gave the Boilermakers their best 19-game start in school history (18-1).
- The Boilermakers wrapped up a "four-in-five" game road trip with a 5-0 record. It marks the first time in school history that Purdue has wrapped up a stretch like that with a 5-0 record. The only other years that Purdue went 4-1 in a stretch like this was 2016-17, 1994-95 and 1987-88. The Boilermakers won the Big Ten championship in those three seasons.
- Purdue is now 6-0 in road games this season, the most road wins for a power-conference team. Purdue's six-game road winning streak is the third-longest of the Matt Painter era.
- Purdue is now 47-9 since the start of last season, the fourth-most wins in America in that span.
- The 39 points allowed were the fewest allowed since defeating Old Dominion, 61-39, on Nov. 21, 2015.
- The 39 points allowed were the fewest allowed on an opponent's home court since a 39-37 loss at DePaul on Jan. 29, Jan. 29, 1944.
- It also marked Minnesota's fewest points scored since the 1950-51 season.
- Purdue nearly had as many points in the paint (36) as Minnesota had points (39).
- The 12 points allowed in the first half tied for the fewest allowed in a half in school history and were the fewest allowed in any half by a Big Ten opponent ever. The last time Purdue allowed 12 points or less in a half came on Nov. 21, 2012, vs. UNC Wilmington (12). Minnesota reached double-digits with 40 seconds left in the opening half.
- Purdue has held every opponent this season to 70 points or less, one of three teams nationally that can say that (Saint Mary's, North Texas).
- Purdue had 18 assists on 25 made field goals and outrebounded the Gophers 40-31.
- Purdue continues to shoot well from 3-point range, making 7-of-16 from deep. Purdue is now 43-of-104 (.413) from 3-point range in the last five games.
- Purdue became the first Big Ten team to win 100 games since the 2015-16 season, now owning a 100-41 league record in the last eight seasons. Michigan State has the next best record at 94-48.
- Braden Smith scored 19 points with seven rebounds and seven assists, becoming the first Purdue freshman to reach those marks in a game in at least 20 years.
- Smith is now averaging 9.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game on the season. He would be the first Purdue player in the last 30 years to average those marks in a season.
- Smith's 81 assists are already the 10th most by a freshman in school history.
- Smith is the only freshman in America to have at least 175 points, 90 rebounds and 80 assists on the season.
- Zach Edey tallied 12 points, six rebounds, four blocks and two assists, scoring in double-figures for the nation's-best 35th straight game. However, he saw his 10-game double-double streak end, which was the third-longest streak in school history.
- Fletcher Loyer saw his 16-game streak with a 3-pointer end.
MINNEAPOLIS -- Zach Edey is more than content to let a Purdue teammate take the lead on offense when the situation calls for it.
Everybody had a hand in the Boilermakers' smothering effort on defense at Minnesota.
Braden Smith had 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to help No. 3 Purdue overwhelm Minnesota 61-39 on Thursday night for the best 19-game start in program history.
The 7-foot-4 Edey had 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks for the Big Ten-leading Boilermakers (18-1, 7-1), who won their fifth consecutive game after taking their lone loss of the season to now-No. 23 Rutgers on Jan. 2.
"I've never believed that we needed 30 and 15 from me to win," Edey said. "We have a lot of guys who can really do a lot of damage."
Three days after Edey's short turnaround shot with 2.2 seconds left lifted Purdue to a 64-63 victory at Michigan State, the boys in black and gold gave themselves a breather by flustering the last-place Gophers (7-10, 1-6) from start to finish. This was the lowest final score for Minnesota since a 32-26 loss at Indiana in 1951.
Edey, who had 32 points and 17 rebounds against the Spartans, made his presence felt on the first possession when 6-foot-7 freshman Joshua Ola-Joseph drove in the lane and had his shot deflected.
Edey had 31 points and 22 rebounds against Minnesota on Dec. 4. The conference scoring leader was held 10 points below his average this time.
"He's had to really work and develop into his success, so when that happens you know you're humble and you had to do a lot of little things just to help your team win," coach Matt Painter said.
Ola-Joseph led the Gophers with 13 points. Minnesota's two top scorers, Jamison Battle and Dawson Garcia, shot a combined 3 for 22 from the floor. Garcia had seven points, and Battle went scoreless.
"If you would've told me before the game that Edey was going to have 12 points and six rebounds, I would've felt pretty good about it," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said.
The Gophers shot 5 for 24 in the first half and never found their rhythm — or confidence.
"If you let guys like that get their head up early it's going to be a long night for you," Purdue's Caleb Furst said, "so we just kind of right from the jump tried to cut off their water supply."