Zach Edey dominated Indiana inside for the second time this season, scoring 26 points and grabbing 13 rebounds Saturday night as No. 2 Purdue rolled to a 79-59 Big Ten Conference win in West Lafayette, Ind.
Edey added four assists and sent the sellout crowd into a frenzy when he banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 6:34 left for a 69-41 lead. He made 7 of 15 shots from the field and 11 of 16 at the line, drawing 10 fouls.
The big man previously torched Indiana for 33 points and 14 rebounds in an 87-66 win on Jan. 16.
Braden Smith added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Boilermakers (22-2, 11-2), who dominated the boards 46-31 and led for more than 33 minutes. They made more free throws (21) than the Hoosiers shot (15) as Edey controlled the lane.
Four players finished in double figures for Indiana (14-10, 6-7), led by reserve CJ Gunn with 13 points. Mackenzie Mgbako added 12, Kel’el Ware scored 11 points and Trey Galloway finished with 10 plus seven assists. But leading scorer Malik Reneau managed only six points in 23 foul-plagued minutes before drawing his fifth foul at the 7:09 mark.
The Hoosiers didn’t have enough firepower to seriously threaten their in-state rivals, hitting just 41.8 percent of their field goal attempts and not making a 3-pointer until the second half.
Indiana was able to hang with Purdue for about 12 minutes, leading by three points on two occasions, before the Boilermakers established their superiority. The Hoosiers’ inability to contain Edey or make enough jumpers over the top of the defense spelled doom.
Beginning with a short jumper from Trey Kaufman-Renn at the 7:01 mark, Purdue rattled off a 15-1 run. Edey dunked and fed Mason Gillis for a 3-pointer that capped the spurt and gave the Boilermakers a 35-19 advantage with 2:29 remaining.
Purdue took a 37-25 cushion into halftime and then left no doubt to start the second half. It scored 10 unanswered points, getting a 3-pointer from Lance Jones for a 22-point lead with 15:49 left, and coasted from there.
–Field Level Media
