[2] Purdue 84, Iowa 70 (Postgame Notes)
- Purdue improved to 17-2 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten Conference with an 84-70 win over Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The win was Purdue's third straight win, the last two coming on the road.
- Purdue has now won three straight games against Iowa, nine of the last 11 contests, and four of the last five matchups in Iowa City.
- Purdue has won back-to-back road games by at least 14 points for the first time since the 2020-21 season (75-58 vs. Nebraska; 73-52 vs. Penn State).
- The Boilermakers are 17-2 (or better) in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. Purdue started last season with an 18-1 mark. Purdue is now 17-2 (or better) for the fifth time in school history (1988, 1994, 2018, 2023, 2024).
- The victory was Purdue's, nation-leading 7th quad-1 victory. Eleven of Purdue's 17 wins have come from the first two quadrants.
- The victory was also the ninth against a KenPom top-50 team this year, easily the most in the country.
- The win was Purdue's 75th win since the start of the 2021-22 season. The Boilermakers are now 75-16 in that span, the third-most wins in the country in that span (Houston – 81; Kansas – 77; Purdue – 75).
- Purdue outrebounded Iowa by a 50-24 margin, Purdue's highest rebound margin against a Big Ten team since Jan. 24, 2020, vs. Wisconsin (42-16).
- Matt Painter moved into 5th place on the Big Ten's wins list in league games with his 215th victory. He is now 13 wins behind Ward "Piggy" Lambert for fourth place (228). Painter is now 215-122 in Big Ten play.
- Zach Edey became the first Purdue player since Glenn Robinson (4 straight from Dec. 21, 1993 to Jan. 5, 1994) to record three straight 30-10 games, with a 30-point, 18-rebound, 4-block, 2-assist performance. The performance marked his 12th career 30-10 game, tied for the second most by a player in the last 15 years.
- Edey is the first Purdue player with three straight 30-10 games against Big Ten teams since Terry Dischinger (5 straight games from Feb. 3, to Feb. 24, 1962).
- Edey is the only major-college player in the last 25 years to have at least 90 points, 50 rebounds and 30 made free throws over a 3-game span. In the last three games, Edey has 93 points, 52 rebounds and 31 made free throws (31.0 PPG, 17.3 RPG, 2.7 BPG, 1.7 APG).
- His eight career 25-15 games are the most for a high-major player in the last 15 years (Trayce Jackson-Davis and Oscar Tshiebwe – 6).
- Edey now needs just 25 points and 8 blocked shots to become the third player in NCAA history with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 blocked shots, while shooting at least 60.0 percent from the field (David Robinson, Patrick Ewing).
- His 51 career double-doubles now just trail Terry Dischinger (54) and Joe Barry Carroll (53) in Purdue history. He tied Joe Barry Carroll for third in Purdue history with 29, 20-10 games (Terry Dischinger – 48; Dave Schellhase – 30).
- In Big Ten play, Edey is now averaging 25.1 points, 14.0 rebounds, 2.4 blocks and 1.9 assists while shooting 65.7 percent from the field.
- Lance Jones tied a season high with 17 points with a season-high 6 rebounds. He went 4-of-9 from 3-point range and is now 10-of-23 (.435) from 3-point range in the last three games. Jones now has 1,740 career points and eight games this season of at least three, 3-pointers.
- Fletcher Loyer added 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 2-of-6 from long range. In Big Ten play, Loyer is shooting 18-of-34 (.529) from long distance. He has made a 3-pointer in nine straight games, shooting 22-of-44 (.500) in that span.
- Braden Smith had nine points, nine assists and six rebounds in the victory. He has had at least six assists in eight straight games, including 29 assists in his last three games (6.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 9.7 APG in that span).
- In league play, Smith is averaging 9.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game. In all games played, Smith is averaging 11.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game.
- Mason Gillis connected on a pair of 3-pointers and during his career, Purdue is 31-4 when he makes multiple 3-pointers in a game.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Zach Edey had 30 points and 18 rebounds to lead No. 2 Purdue past Iowa 84-70 on Saturday.
Lance Jones scored 17 points and Fletcher Loyer added 12 as the Boilermakers (17-2, 6-2 Big Ten) won their third consecutive game and 10th out of their last 11.
Edey, the reigning national player of the year, put constant pressure on Iowa's smaller frontcourt while getting his 12th double-double of the season. He was 10 of 15 from the field and 10 of 15 on free throws. Edey helped the Boilermakers have a 50-24 rebounding edge.
Edey credited Purdue's balanced offense — the Boilermakers got 36 points inside, but also hit nine 3-pointers — with getting him opportunities.
"We have so many ways to get the ball inside this year," Edey said. "It's really helping me. They can take away two or three different actions, and I'll get (the ball) on the fourth. We do really good things looking for the post, and then playing out of it. We have guys that just make plays."
The Hawkeyes tried every way to defend Edey, with little success.
"It's just different with him," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "When he gets deep position, it's hard (to defend him)."
Added guard Tony Perkins: "Honestly, I thought we did the best we could. Sometimes we played excellent defense. But he's 285, 300 pounds. He's hard to move. We were prepared, but that's a big fella to keep out of the paint."
Purdue had 19 offensive rebounds, forcing long extra possessions that wore down the Hawkeyes.
"It was just getting shots and trying to live on the glass," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "We have a great rebounding team, and tonight our ability to rebound the ball was probably the difference in the game. Nineteen offensive rebounds, that's pretty impressive."
Purdue trailed 18-14 with 12:32 left in the first half before going on a 19-2 run, with most of those points coming with Edey on the bench.
"They helped us extend the lead when I was on the bench," Edey said of the players who were in the game during the run. "That was huge. They came in, did their job, played hard, they got on the glass and did the little things. I thought they played really well."
Painter said Purdue would have preferred to have Edey on the court, but added: "I thought those guys were very active."
Iowa later answered with seven consecutive points before the Boilermakers closed the half with a 9-3 run to lead 47-34 at halftime.
Purdue maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half before Iowa got to within 78-70 with 4:22 left. The Hawkeyes (11-7, 3-4) had a chance to cut the lead further, but failed to score on three consecutive possessions. Jones then hit a 3-pointer with 1:35 left to end Iowa's comeback hopes.
Perkins led Iowa with 24 points. Payton Sandfort had 16 points and Ben Krikke added 10.
BIG PICTURE
Purdue: It took a few minutes for the Boilermakers to settle in before their big first-half run gave them control. Edey was as dominant inside, as usual, and Purdue's 3-point shooting left Iowa defenseless. It was a good road win to keep pace with Wisconsin at the top of the Big Ten standings. The Boilermakers have won nine of the last 11 against Iowa.
Iowa: The Hawkeyes came in having won three consecutive games and six of their last seven, but their inability to get rebounds proved costly, especially in the first half. Foul trouble against Krikke and freshman forward Owen Freeman in the first half didn't help, either.