A convincing win is uncommon but welcome as Purdue knocked off Penn State, 73-52, Friday night in Happy Valley.
With the win, the unranked Boilermakers (16-8, 11-6 in the Big Ten) have jumped into a tie for fourth in the Big Ten with No. 9 Iowa. The top four teams in the Big Ten final regular-season standings receive two byes in the postseason conference tournament (March 10-14).
Purdue’s two remaining games will take place at Mackey Arena against No. 23 Wisconsin next Tuesday (March 2) and against Indiana four days later. Iowa finishes the regular season with a road game at fourth-ranked Ohio State, then home games against Nebraska and the Wisconsin Badgers.
When asked if his team was peaking at the right time, coach Matt Painter said, “We want to keep building, this was our third win in a row and we want to continue our winning ways, but we know that the next game we have against Wisconsin is going to be a really tough one.”
In the Bryce Jordan Center, the Boilers left nothing to chance against the Nittany Lions (8-13, 5-12). A layup by Mason Gillis gave Purdue a 13-11 advantage more than five minutes into the game, and the Boilers held the lead for the remainder of the game. Gillis’s layup sparked an 11-2 run for the Boilermakers over the next three minutes.
Purdue freshman Jaden Ivey scored seven of the 11 points through that stretch, including a steal which led to an emphatic breakaway dunk. When it was all said and done, Ivey stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, five rebounds, three steals which tied a season-high and four blocks which set a season high.
“Before the game I felt like our energy was amazing today,” said Ivey after the game, “Our offensive flow came from our energy.”
Sasha Stefanovic, a Boilers junior from Crown Point, made his return to the starting lineup for the first time since late January after a bout with COVID-19. His return was welcomed after leading all scorers with 16. Fellow juniors Eric Hunter Jr. and Trevion Williams rounded out double digit scoring for the Boilers with 10 and 11 respectively.
Though Purdue got an overdue one-sided game against the Nittany Lions, the Boilers know that they have their work cut out in their two remaining regular-season games.
