No. 4 Purdue overwhelms Iowa 87-68

This was the perfect example of Purdue imposing its will.

And it came at the right time in a bounce-back performance after Friday night’s loss at Northwestern, knocking the Boilermakers out of the nation’s No. 1 spot.

At the start of the second half, the now-fourth-ranked Boilermakers flexed their muscle and overwhelmed Iowa 87-68 before another sellout crowd at Mackey Arena.

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Sparked by Lance Jones, Purdue blitzed the Hawkeyes with 17 points in the first five minutes to build a 62-32 lead. The sluggish beginning to the second half at Northwestern was quickly put in the rearview mirror and the Boilermakers delivered the final knockout punch to send Iowa home with a loss in its Big Ten opener.

Jones scored nine points before the first media timeout after halftime, including a deep 3-pointer, and pushed the pace to reach the rim and convert layups. Jones picked up two early fouls in the first 10 minutes and remained on the bench until the second half.

PDF: Purdue-Iowa statistics

While the first five minutes of the second half decided this game, the first half had plenty of solid moments as the Boilermakers quickly built a double-digit advantage and led by 19.

Zach Edey had averaged only eight points in five meetings against the Hawkeyes, but nearly matched his career point total, finishing with 25 points – on 9 of 10 shooting – and 12 rebounds.

Edey and Jones combined to hit their first 10 field goals and totaled 23 points to start the second half.

Mason Gillis added 12 points, including a 3-pointer before the halftime buzzer, Fletcher Loyer contributed 12 and Trey Kaufman-Renn chipped in 10.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery received a technical in the first half after Loyer was awarded a timeout during a scrum fighting for a loose ball.

SECOND-HALF SURGE

In two of the last three games before Monday, the Boilermakers were slow starters after halftime.

It cost them against Northwestern after holding an eight-point lead. It nearly cost them against Marquette in Hawaii.

But there was no slow start against the Hawkeyes. It was the complete opposite.

And Jones ignited the run.  

“I just wanted to come out with the right mindset,” said Jones, who finished with 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting after fouling out against Northwestern. “I was well-rested picking up those two early ones. I just wanted to maintain a good mindset.”

That mindset trickled down to his teammates, who proceeded to roll Iowa out of West Lafayette for the sixth straight time. Purdue led by as many as 35 with 13:55 to play.

Part of the reason for the avalanche of points was the ability to take care of the ball. The turnover problems the Boilermakers experienced at Northwestern disappeared against the Hawkeyes, who are not known for playing physical defense.

Purdue committed eight turnovers, which is probably the right number when facing Iowa.

“You see that lead from around eight, 10, or 12 just go up to 20 and then to 30,” Loyer said. “When you’re taking care of the ball and you’re outrebounding them, it’s pretty easy to get those runs and get those leads.”

MORTON’S STAT LINE

At first glance, Ethan Morton didn’t score. He missed all four field goal attempts, including three from 3-point range.

But look deeper. Morton totaled four rebounds, five assists, one block, and no turnovers in 25 minutes. That’s winning basketball coming off the bench.

“I’m always going to make the right play and do we what we need,” Morton said. “It doesn’t really matter who we’re playing but I’ve shown I can fill a lot of different roles in my time here. Just being able to adapt but making the right plays.”

And Morton is motivated to help this team win in a role that wouldn’t suit most players.

“We have too many good players on this team for me not to want to make plays for guys,” he said. “They do a good job of encouraging me to be aggressive. I’m going to keep doing that and hopefully have games like this.”

In fact, Morton hasn’t scored since the third game against Xavier. He’s totaled 10 assists and one turnover in the last six games.

“He didn’t make some shots but who cares?” Matt Painter said about Morton. “Braden Smith made one shot tonight and he played great. He was fabulous.”

COMPLETE GAME?

Monday wasn’t the first time Purdue was solid from start to finish but considering it was a Big Ten game, it’s hard to argue the wire-to-wire victory didn’t stand out above others.

Maybe not the ones in Hawaii where the Boilermakers beat Gonzaga, Tennessee, and Marquette. But when factoring in the defensive end, the victory over the Hawkeyes ranks high.

Iowa averaged 1.063 points per possession as Purdue just missed its goal of holding an opponent under 1.000.

“From a defensive standpoint, we played two really good halves,” Morton said. “We did a good job of not being chaotic in the second half. They tried to turn it up at the start and credit to Lance, he took exactly what we said in the locker room about them coming out and pressuring, and he flipped it on them.

“We continued to get easy shots. That’s a credit to our guys. When you get a lead like that, people can get thirsty, and people want to get theirs, but everybody wanted to keep playing the right way. It was a good job by everybody.”

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