Early on, the two teams went back and forth, and struggled at times to put the ball in the basket. Wisconsin was a dismal 2-of-13 from behind the arc and 12-of-33 from the field, while Purdue basketball was 15-of-28 and 3-of-7 from behind the three point arc. Purdue was able to race out to a 13 point lead at one point, as Edey got Wisconsin forwards Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter in early foul trouble.
With four minutes left, Purdue’s defense began to get Wisconsin out of sync, as Tyler Wahl turned it over and Loyer drilled a three pointer, stretching the lead to 37-26. Loyer was fouled and hit the ensuing free throw for a four point play, pushing the lead to 38-26 en route to a 44-33 halftime advantage.
“We had some turnovers and were kind of casual with the basketball. They cut it and we were able to make some shots, make some plays and kind of settle down. You can’t extend your lead unless you’re getting stops. We had a sequence in there where we weren’t getting any stops,” Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter said.
With the regular season behind them, the next stop is the Big Ten Conference Tournament in Minneapolis, where Purdue will look to defend its title.
