Second-half spurt helps top-ranked Purdue basketball take down Penn State

Purdue’s last trip to Philadelphia ended in a disappointing fashion 10 months ago when Saint Peter’s ousted the Boilermakers from the NCAA tournament.

Sunday’s game at the Palestra didn’t win Purdue any championships, but did move it to the top of the Big Ten standings and possibly establish a foundation for a deep run during the conference season.

A strong start to the second half carried the top-ranked Boilermakers past Penn State 76-63, capping a week where coach Matt Painter’s team finished 2-1 after suffering their first loss of the season to Rutgers on Monday.

Purdue trailed by six at halftime but scored the first 12 points of the to take control. No. 1 teams are now 9-0 at the Palestra.

The Nittany Lions couldn’t control Zach Edey, who dominated inside thanks to the lob passes from freshman Braden Smith. Edey finished with 30 points, 16 after halftime, and Smith added 15 points and six assists. Fletcher Loyer contributed 17 points, including four 3-pointers. Edey also pulled down 13 rebounds.

Jalen Pickett carried Penn State in the first half, scoring 18 points as the Nittany Lions led 37-31 at halftime. In fact, Pickett and Seth Lundy combined for the last 20 points of the first half to give Penn State plenty of momentum at the break.

Pickett cooled off after halftime as the Boilermakers’ defense picked up, thanks to presence of Ethan Morton. Pickett finished with 26 points.

Purdue’s 12-0 run to start the second half was part of a 19-5 spurt over the first six minutes.

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CONTROLLING PICKETT

The Penn State star had a first half to remember, scoring 18 points, including the final six to inject plenty of energy into the building.

But that changed after halftime. Give credit to Morton.

Morton hounded Pickett in the second half, limiting him to just six shot attempts and 10 points after halftime. Keeping Pickett under wraps sparked the Boilermakers on the offensive end and jumpstarted the big run.

Brandon Newman also played a role in keeping Pickett from continuing his big game. Morton played 30 minutes but didn’t attempt a shot.

“I thought we had pretty good defense the whole night and it was definitely started by Ethan,” Painter said during the postgame press conference. “Think about how good Pickett is. We’re sitting here talking about these two guys and how great a job they did defensively, and he had 26 points. That shows you how good Pickett is.”

But it also demonstrates how much improvement – both individually and as a team – the Boilermakers have made on the defensive end this season. Pickett’s 18 first-half points could’ve easily turned into a Edey-type performance if Morton, Newman and the rest of team don’t raise their level.

“Ethan did a great job on the ball – I think he’s really underappreciated. He’s the best defender on our team,” Edey said. “He really stepped in the second half. Jalen Pickett, had what 18 in the first half? In the second half, he did really well against him. He turned off his water.”

Everything went in during the first half for Pickett, who was nearly on pace for a triple double.

“It was too easy for Pickett,” Painter said. “Go pick him up. Just go and try to wear him down and they had other people pick it up. I don’t know if it did anything or not. Ethan works really hard and sacrifices for our team.”

SECOND-HALF SHOW

Sunday was the second straight game the Boilermakers have shined in the second half.

Against Ohio State, Purdue shot 50% from the field after halftime and posted a two-point victory. Against the Nittany Lions, the Boilermakers made 18 of 27 field goals, including 5 of 8 from beyond the arc, to pace the second-half onslaught.

In the last two games, Purdue is shooting 58.8% overall and 50% from 3-point range after halftime.

“I didn’t feel bad about where we were because (Seth) Lundy banks one in, Pickett had stepback 3s and scoop shots,” Painter said. “The degree of difficulty in some of the shots they made, I felt like if we could keep guarding them and if we could play a little bit better on offense, we had some good looks.”

Loyer was a big key to the offense after halftime, hitting a 3-pointer just 17 seconds half into the second half. He finished with 14 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes, including three 3-pointers.

“Fletcher had a big-time second half after not getting many cracks at it in the first half,” Painter said.

TWO-MAN GAME

The Smith-Edey show had their best performance of the season.

The ball screen actions, and lob passes worked to nearly perfection against the smaller Nittany Lions, who couldn’t match up with Edey and his 7-foot-4 frame. Edey made 14 of 21 shots and posted another double double.

“Braden’s ability to make his pull-ups in the first half really helped things,” Painter said. “We weren’t just getting one thing out of ball screen action with Braden. We were getting a lot of things.”

His 15 points came on 5 of 11 shooting, including three 3-pointers. His scoring success on the perimeter helped open the inside for Edey.

“It’s awesome to have the confidence from the coaches and the players, telling me, ‘We need you to shoot the ball,’ ” Smith said. “Just hearing that as an offensive player sparks that.”

Five of Smith’s seven assists went directly to Edey.

“It makes my job easy,” Smith said. “It’s nice.”