Purdue holds off Penn State, claims first Big Ten tournament championship since 2009

On3 imageby:Mike Carmin03/12/23

CHICAGO – Purdue has pulled off a Big Ten double for the first time.

But just barely.

The Boilermakers won the league regular-season championship and backed up that title by capturing the conference tournament Sunday at the United Center but not without plenty of drama at the end.

It’s become a common theme for fifth-ranked Purdue, which held on for a 67-65 victory.

Penn State stormed back from a 17-point deficit to pull within one. And after Fletcher Loyer made 1 of 2 free throws, the Nittany Lions and Micah Shrewsberry went for the win. But Camren Wynter was called for traveling before getting a shot off, preserving the victory.

Zach Edey actually tipped the inbounds pass with 3.3 seconds on the clock.

“I believe Zach Edey tipped the ball,” Myles Dread said. “I tried to just grab it and make something happen as soon as I could. That’s about it.”

The tournament title, the program’s first since 2009, served as redemption for falling short last season against Iowa. In fact, the Boilermakers didn’t win the regular-season championship and were bounced by No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in the Sweet 16.

Purdue also earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, the program’s first since 1996.

“We definitely had a letdown season last year,” said Mason Gillis, who had 10 points and continued to make hustle plays. “We didn’t get anything out of it. This year winning by three games, having the best coach in the country, best player in the country, being able to fight through our ups and downs. We struggled at times, but our team is very connected. The chemistry is very high. We just have great people in our program.

“Whenever all of those things come together and everybody is working hard, success can only come at some time or another. So winning by three games in the conference and then winning the tourney, it feels amazing. Great momentum.”

For the first 35 minutes against the Nittany Lions, Edey dominated the inside, David Jenkins Jr. continued his hot shooting from the perimeter and Purdue’s defense held up against the PSU’s top shooters. Edey was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and was the only Boilermaker named to the all-tournament team.

The Nittany Lions, playing their fourth game in four days, couldn’t keep up with Edey, who posted another double-double with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Jenkins scored 11 first-half points, hitting three 3-pointers as the Boilermakers parlayed a 15-2 run into a 35-27 halftime advantage.

It was Edey’s second straight 30-point game in the tournament.

“Yeah, I’m just kind of out there trying to make plays for my teammates, same way I always have all season,” Edey said. “It depends on how teams are guarding me obviously. The last two teams tried to leave me one-on-one. My job is really simple when people do that.”

Purdue led 60-43 with 6:18 to play, but the Lions pieced together a 22-6 run to close within one point with six seconds on the clock.

Led by Brandon Newman and Ethan Morton, Purdue’s defense made life difficult for Seth Lundy and Jalen Pickett for most of the game. The pair struggled to find their offense against the Boilermakers’ top perimeter defenders, but Lundy started to find his stroke. Lundy, though, fouled out with 2:47 to play after helping bring the Lions within six points. He scored 19 points, while Pickett had 11 on 4 of 13 shooting.

“They’re a good defensive team, too,” Shrewsberry said about Purdue. “They make it tough on you. They’ve done it all year, they try to run you off the line and really funnel you into Zach. We had a lot of good looks that we just missed.”

Purdue wasn’t sharp from 3-point range but kept pushing the ball inside to Edey, who had two or three defenders hanging on his arms most of the day. The Boilermakers took care of the ball, committing four turnovers through the game’s first 32 minutes but finished with seven.

Purdue has struggled to close out games, in part because of opponents bringing full-court pressure down the stretch. The Boilermakers were once again careless with the ball, allowing the Nittany Lions to push them to the edge.

“Now we need to practice right here. I don’t know if you guys noticed that about the press. And we do actually practice that,” Painter said. “But it’s guys that kind of get put in some tough positions. We step on the end line, we throw one up for grabs. We allow them to double us in the middle of the court, and people have to come. We’ve got to help each other. We’ve got to do a better job of helping each other, but we got through it.

“That’s what we’ve got to be able to do. We’ve got to be able to go back to practice and work on some stuff and get ready for the tournament and hopefully have a lot of fun.”

PDF: Purdue-Penn State stats | Stat Blast

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