PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Purdue's Zach Edey, the reigning college basketball player of the year, wasn't too excited about becoming the sixth player in Big Ten Conference history to have 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
The senior, who scored 26 points to surpass 2,000 in his college career, called it another achievement.
Beat Rutgers on the road on Sunday? That gave the big Canadian center a much better feeling after leading the No. 2 Boilermakers to a tough 68-60 victory over the Scarlet Knights.
“I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a matchup I was looking forward to,” Edey said after Purdue (19-2, 8-2) ended a three-game losing streak at Jersey Mike's Arena, making it the last venue from the conference where he had not won. “It was definitely a game I really wanted to win.”
It was only Purdue's third win over Rutgers (10-9, 2-6) in the last eight meetings, and this one wasn't easy even though the Boilermakers took a 14-point lead early in the second half.
“It's a tough challenge,” Boilermaker coach Matt Painter said. “They have been better than us. It's that simple. We may be better at winning games, but in head-to-head matches, they are better than us.”
The Scarlet Knights rallied and twice came within two points of the lead. The second time, guard Braden Smith hit a clutch floater to highlight a 19-point performance and give Purdue its fifth straight victory.
Aundre Hyatt scored 15 points and Cliff Omoruyi 13 for the Scarlet Knights, who put the game away by shooting 50% in the second half. Freshman Gavin Griffiths came off the bench and hit a jumper with 5:19 left to cut Purdue's lead to 55-53.
After Smith made his big shot, Omoruyi made one of two free throws, Fletcher Loyer then made three free throws after being fouled on a long-range shot, Smith scored a layup and Edey made a dunk to put the game away of its reach.
“Not many people have a 7-4 guy who catches everything, makes free throws and does what he does,” said Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell, whose team outrebounded Purdue 36-32, including 15-6 in the offensive boards. “I thought Cliff fought him pretty well.”
Rutgers had no field goals in the final 2:02 and only two in the final 5:19 in losing at home for the second time in 11 games this season.
“Basketball is a running game,” said Purdue guard Lance Jones, who had season highs of 10 rebounds and eight assists to offset a 1-for-10 shooting night. “They were forced to do one or two (races) at home in front of a big crowd, so that was inevitable. But we stuck together and weathered the storm.”
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Purdue: Hosts Northwestern on Wednesday.
Rutgers: Hosts Penn State on Wednesday.
