Purdue leaves no doubt in clinching greatest start in school history

MINNEAPOLIS — With Thursday night’s businesslike 61-39 win at Minnesota, third-ranked Purdue not only clinched the greatest start in school history by improving to 18-1, notched any number of defensive and opponent-scoring superlatives, and took another big step in the Big Ten race courtesy more of outcomes elsewhere, but it also proved something.

Purdue, one of the best teams in college basketball to this point, could have shown at the Barn and been just OK and probably skated by. Coming off a big win at Michigan State, it could have brought something less than its best and tested itself once again in crunch time on the road, where the Boilermakers have won a series of 50/50 sort of outcomes away from Mackey Arena.

There was no 50/50 anything about this one, a game one-sided enough that the statistics at the end of the game barely mattered.

But Purdue did hold Minnesota to only 12 first-half points, matching an all-time low for a half against the Boilermakers. The all-time scoring low for a Big Ten opponent for a full game — 35 by Illinois in ’85 — was on the ropes for a while, but ultimately stood.

“It’s something we really harped on,” Zach Edey said, “that every game is almost like a championship game. You look back at last year, at Rutgers, at Michigan State, at IU, all those games we lost by one possession. Take one possession from any of those games, we’re Big Ten champions.

“It’s about focusing on these games people may overlook, hone in and try to put them away early.”

That, Purdue did, dominating the first half without it necessarily showing up in the margin on the scoreboard until a 13-0 late-half run put the visitors up 22 with 52 seconds left before the half, at which the Gophers had just nine points.

PDF: Purdue-Minnesota statistics

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BRADEN SMITH TAKES COMMAND

The face of Purdue’s urgency to start this game: Point guard Braden Smith, who oozed aggressive throughout his first visit to Williams Arena, but especially early. He attacked the rim, looked for the jumpers that Matt Painter’s been urging him to take and wound up nearly flirting with a triple double, with 19 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.

“He’s got to be a threat offensively,” Painter said. “I loved it that he was attacking and trying to get layups but also looking for his shot. If people are going to go under (ball screens) on him like that, and he can have easy, step-in threes, he’s gotta take them, because he’s a really good shooter.”

Smith was 3-of-5 from long range, as Purdue was again potent from deep, at 7-of-16, though many of the makes came in the second half with the game already decided.

ZACH EDEY’S DEFENSIVE IMPACT WAS THE GAME

There’s a difference between blocking shots and protecting the rim. Zach Edey did both against the Gophers while seemingly winning a bit of a psychological operation against Minnesota with his sheer presence.

As part of a game in which he only went for 12 points and six rebounds — only by his Player-of-the-Year-level standard — Edey did block four shots and was the biggest reason Minnesota shot below 32 percent for the game. You could see in Minnesota players’ behavior around the basket when Edey was in the game that his shadow was a formidable one.

Minnesota lacks traditional size, but youngsters Joshua Ola-Joseph and Pharrell Payne are athletic and can drive the ball, as opposed to stretching the floor. That allowed Edey — required him, maybe — to sit back at the rim.

“A lot of times, they weren’t trying to shoot layups,” Edey said. “They were going for those contested twos, tough twos. That’s what we really want on defense.”

A healthy chunk of Minnesota’s meager scoring output came with Edey out of the game, including the Gophers’ final eight points, which all came in the final four minutes after Purdue had taken its star out.

A BIG STEP IN THE BIG TEN

Look, no one should be surprised by this outcome. Purdue’s been one of the best teams in college basketball this season and Minnesota’s feeling the sting of a difficult rebuild more in Year 2 under Ben Johnson then it did in Year 1.

But with this win — and the significant signals sent by Purdue with the authority with which it won — this was a big night for the Boilermakers.

Rutgers lost at Michigan State and Michigan lost to Maryland, giving Purdue a two-game lead atop the league standings, with five road victories already in the win column. The Boilermakers are 7-1 in the league while no clear No. 2 has yet to really emerge, as Rutgers has tripped up a few times since winning in Mackey Arena.