Purdue went into Iowa and took control of the game early, and pushed away a second half comeback from Iowa to rack up an impressive road win, 83-73.
Keegan Murray, the nation’s third leading scorer at 22.8 points a game, missed Iowa’s first match up against Purdue in Mackey Arena. He was back healthy as Coach McCaffrey’s Hawkeyes hosted Purdue in a late night tip-off, but Purdue succeeded at taking Murray out of the game in the first half and it led to a fifteen point halftime lead, 48-33.
But Kris Murray, Keegan’s brother, had 23 points and Iowa pushed back against the Boilermakers in the second half. Iowa’s press started to force turnovers (Iowa had a 18-5 points off turnover edge over Purdue) and Purdue had to look at ghosts of blown leads past.
Iowa came all the way back to 57-53 with just over 12 minutes, but Iowa’s press left their defense susceptible, and Purdue’s offense was too overwhelming for Iowa by the end.
With Jaden Ivey still struggling with a hip injury, Boilermakers other guards needed to step up.
No one did that more than Isaiah Thompson whose floater followed by a corner three helped push Coach Painter’s squad back up double-digits. The junior guard had 18 points on just 8 shots, knocking down four threes, and hitting two difficult floaters to help pull away late.
Ivey only played 21 minutes off the bench in this one, but he made his impact felt, despite going just 2-7 from the free throw line. A step back three in the first half was a highlight of the game, but his ability to score from all three levels is what NBA scouts will be salivating about. He had 15 points on just 7 shots from the floor, including three made threes.
Sasha Stefanovic was Purdue’s offense early, scoring 9 points in the first half, and finishing the game with 14 points with 4 made three pointers.
Trevion Williams continues to struggle with his efficiency on the floor and decision making at times, but he was dominant on the glass with 15 boards, did score 12 points, and had two big steals late. He got the better of Zach Edey in production on this one, with the Canadian big man struggling with foul trouble for most the game and an Iowa squad that went small in the second half.
In traditional fashion, Purdue moved the ball, not relying on just one play maker, but a collection of them to find open looks that they knocked down consistently. Purdue was 13 of 22 from three, and had six players with 2 or more assists.
The hot three point shooting helped make up for an abysmal day at the line for Purdue where they went just 10-22, a stark contrast to the earlier game between these two teams. Iowa was 17 of 18 from the line to prevent the game from being a blow out.
For the second time this season Purdue held Iowa to under 30% shooting from three. Iowa was 8 of 27 from three.
Purdue’s 30-49 from the field was the ball game. Iowa’s defense could not handle Purdue’s bigs inside or their shooters on the perimeter. It was one of Purdue’s best offensive performances in Big Ten play.
Purdue will now play host to Ohio State at Mackey Arena on Sunday as they continue to rise up the Big Ten Leaderboard.
