'They kept falling' Top-ranked Purdue steamrolls Penn State behind career night from Mason Gillis

WEST LAFAYETTE – Micah Shrewsberry didn’t waste any time getting to his point Wednesday night.

“Best team in the country. Best player in the country. Best coach in the country,” said Penn State’s coach, a former assistant under Purdue’s Matt Painter.

It would be hard to argue with Shrewsberry following the 80-60 victory at Mackey Arena by the top-ranked Boilermakers, thanks to a career-high 29 points – on nine 3-pointers – from Mason Gillis. But there was another dominating rebounding performance, more stingy defense from Ethan Morton and Purdue took care of the basketball.

Gillis and the Boilermakers hit the Nittany Lions (14-8, 5-6) with a blitz to start the second half as the junior drained three 3-pointers in a span of 1:12 to push a 35-29 halftime lead to 13 points. Gillis scored 17 points after halftime as Purdue built a 26-point lead and was on its way to extending its winning streak to nine heading into Saturday’s showdown at Indiana.

“Our guys are excited about it,” Painter said, referring to Gillis’ performance. “They know how much time he’s put in. Mason has worked hard, and it’s great to see his hard work pay off.

Zach Edey posted another double double with 18 points and 13 rebounds for Purdue, which committed seven turnovers and received nine assists from Braden Smith.

The Boilermakers (22-1, 11-1) hold a three-game lead in the loss column over Illinois and Rutgers in the Big Ten standings.

Seth Lundy had 18 points for the Nittany Lions.

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‘THEY KEPT FALLING’

Gillis’ nine 3-pointers set a Mackey Arena record for a Purdue player, surpassing eight made by Robbie Hummel against Ohio State in 2010 and Ryne Smith against High Point in 2011. Hummel was broadcasting the game for BTN getting an up-close look at Gillis breaking the mark.

Gillis finished 9 of 12 from 3-point range and 10 of 14 overall.

“Honestly to me, it doesn’t feel like I did anything different than other games,” Gillis said. “I hit a couple of shots and they kept falling.”

And they kept falling and falling for the New Castle native. The nine 3-pointers are tied for the second most in a game in program history behind Carsen Edwards (10 vs. Virginia, 2019).

For this teammates, who have witnessed the consistent shooting performances in practices, Gillis’ career game was a joy to watch unfold.

“I just had the biggest smile on my face,” said Morton, who added six points and six rebounds. “I see the work every day and he’s epitome of doing your job no matter what’s going on. Everyone is here acting like it’s unbelievable. We’ve been doing this for three years.”

Said Edey: “It was just fun. It was nice to run down the floor on offense, post up and someone else hits a shot and you go back and celebrate. It was easy. With someone like that you just give them the ball. It was a big energy boost for the entire team.”

Gillis started the first seven games but a back injury sidelined the junior for the next three games. He returned to the starting lineup against New Orleans since Edey was out with the flu but has come off the bench the last 11 games.

It hasn’t been easy for Gillis to see his minutes reduced, in part because Caleb Furst is playing well, but Wednesday’s performance once again demonstrated his value to this team and program.

“For me, it just shows to keep working,” said Gillis, whose previous career high was 14 points. “I haven’t had the same season as last year or the type of season I wanted. But the coaches have told me to keep working. I’ve told myself to keep working. Teammates tell me to keep working. I tell them to keep working. We stick to it.”

As the Boilermakers and the Nittany Lions went through the postgame handshake line, Shrewsberry stopped and spoke briefly to Gillis.

“He said he was mad at me,” Gillis joked. “He didn’t say too much else. We talked for a second. All love for coach Shrewsberry.”

DEFENSE LIVES HERE

The Boilermakers and Morton pieced together another strong defensive showing, despite the Nittany Lions hitting 11 3-pointers.

Morton and his teammates bottled up Jalen Pickett, who is likely an All-Big Ten first-team selection, and 3-point shooting specialist Andrew Funk, who was 0 of 6 from beyond the arc.

Lundy got loose, hitting 3 of 6 from 3-point range, and big man Michael Henn sparked Penn State early with three 3-pointers. But the Boilermakers clamped down at the right time to create plenty of separation.

Although Morton would like to produce more on the offensive end, his contribution on the defense keeps this group moving in the right direction.

“I’ve come to enjoy it,” Morton said. “I fought it when I first got here. I’ve tried to challenge myself on that end because it helps this team a lot especially with the scorers that we have. You saw it across the board.”

“For me to add value on that side of the ball, it’s been fun. I look forward to playing against guys like Jalen Pickett because they’re unbelievable players in this league and I have a lot of expect for.”

DOMINATING DEFENSIVE BOARDS

For the second straight game, the Boilermakers limited an opponent to two offensive rebounds.

Michigan State had a team offensive rebound in Sunday’s game and two players from Penn State – Lundy and Kanye Clary – each had offensive rebounds. The ability of Purdue to limit teams to one shot is an important element of its defensive success.

The Spartans and the Lions scored a combined five second-chance points the last two games.

“That’s everyone doing their job,” Edey said. “They have a bunch of guys, and they get on the glass. Offensive rebounds are an individual stat and defensive rebounds are a team stat. As a team, we did really well today.”

While the Nittany Lions aren’t known for crashing the offensive glass, limiting them to one shot speaks more about how the Boilermakers are rebounding at a high level.

“That was a big statement by our guys in back-to-back games being able to keep the other team off the offensive glass,” Painter said.