The first ten minutes were anything but pretty, but once Purdue basketball big man Zach Edey got going and the Boilermakers started making shots, it was the Purdue of old, running off to an 84-76 win at Michigan.
Purdue basketball missed 12 of its first 17 shots, allowing the Wolverines to race out to a six point lead. The message from head coach Matt Painter was the same — keep shooting.
His team obliged, and it paid off, as Purdue then went on a tear, making 13 of 23 shots to build a 47-36 advantage at the half.
“I thought we played well and did some good things, we just didn’t convert enough to reward ourselves to get on a run and push the game out. I thought Michigan just played better than us the first ten minutes. To our guys’ credit, we stayed with it and started to make more shots. We just had to establish that. Keep taking good shots,” Painter said.
Edey, who was held to 6-of-13 shooting from the field and scored 16 points, while recording 10 rebounds, in the first game, exploded in the Crisler Center in front of a loud crowd that was clad in black and gold. Edey scored 35 points on 14-of-18 shooting and ripped down 15 rebounds, including eight offensive rebounds.
When Michigan cut the lead to 58-50, it looked like the Wolverines had some life. But Edey put an end to all of that. He would go on to score 11 of the next 14 for the Boilermakers to put Purdue back ahead 12.
“That was big,” Edey said of the run. “Offensive rebounds really gave us a boost, getting those second chance points. Continue to play hard and a lot of times you get rewarded.”
The Purdue basketball run put an end to any chance Michigan had and got the Purdue faithful that made the trip had the Crisler Center sounding like Mackey North late in the game with chants of “Whose house? Our house!”
Painter said he could never recall a time when Purdue basketball fans had that kind of an impact at a road game.
“Never. I told our team at halftime this might never happen again so give them something to cheer about. I came out and said, “this is a pretty good crowd because they are on Spring Break.” Somebody said you understand 1,500 people to your left are all Purdue. I didn’t even know,” Painter said.
Edey welcomed the atmosphere.
“It definitely makes you appreciate Mackey a little more,” he said.
With the loss, Michigan has lost 15 of its last 17 games and drops to 8-20 overall, 3-14 in the Big Ten. Purdue, on the other hand, improved to 25-3, 14-3 and can clinch a share of the Big Ten regular season crown with a win Saturday over Michigan State.
“Thought we played well. Some people will take this as “ah they were just okay,” but we just didn’t make some shots. I thought we took really good shots,” Painter said.
Edey said while he has thought about winning the Big Ten title, his approach remains the same.
“It won’t change how we approach the game. We approach like we are trying to win, it’s no different. We are going to lock into Michigan State now. We are going to approach it the same way we always approach it,” Edey said.
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