Breakdown: #4 Purdue's win at #17 Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — No. 4 Purdue landed its biggest and most consequential win of the season on Monday afternoon, answering every rally No. 17 Illinois had to offer and winning 96-88 in double overtime.
Our breakdown.
PDF: Purdue-Illinois statistics
More ($): Stat Blast | Analysis | Wrap Video | Final Thoughts | Podcast
WHAT HAPPENED
This was a hump Purdue had to get over, beating this Illinois group.
A few seasons ago, the Boilermakers visited the State Farm Center and managed just 37 points in one of the ugliest losses of the modern era at Purdue. Since then, Illinois has won every meeting between the two teams, literally stomping and elbowing the Boilermakers along the way.
Monday, it was Purdue that put its foot down, whether it was Zach Edey dominating Kofi Cockburn, or the Boilermakers making seemingly every high-leverage-moment three they took, or Purdue outrebounding one of the best in the business.
It all added up to Purdue's first win over Illinois since late February of 2019.
"The seniors are happy," joked Eric Hunter, one of those seniors.
Purdue found the toughness or poise or whatever it might have been it may have lacked when double-digit second-half leads against Rutgers and Wisconsin turned into gutting losses.
Make no mistake here: Purdue didn't close this game out. Respectable leads got away in both regulation, and the first overtime.
It did finish the game off, however, outscoring Illinois 18-10 in those last five minutes, thanks largely to Trevion Williams twice passing out of the post to Eric Hunter for a pair of layups, then Hunter making every needed free throw to salt the game away.
"It's massive," senior Sasha Stefanovic said after scoring a team-high 22 points. "Winning on the road in the Big Ten is always tough no matter where or who you're playing against. For us to come out with a big win, it's huge for us. We played really well."
So did Illinois, though, setting up what'll certainly turn out to be one of the most memorable games of the Big Ten season, as Andre Curbelo — fresh off sitting out the last two months — galvanized the Illini off the dribble and Alfonso Plummer made a half dozen threes, offsetting whatever Illinois lost with Cockburn fouling out after just 22 minutes and 10 points.
"We all stepped up to the test," Ivey said, who scored 13 of his 19 points at the foul line. "We stuck with it tonight."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sasha Stefanovic made 5-of-8 threes, Jaden Ivey brushed off a rough beginning to make a number of crucial extra-session plays — and drew 10 fouls — and Eric Hunter played probably his best game of the season, his 11 points being only part of the story. Trevion Williams doled out clutch assists.
But this was Zach Edey's big day in a monster truck show of a matchup with Kofi Cockburn.
"(Toughness) is really something I've been focusing on since the Wisconsin game," Edey said. "Being tough, being physical, being a presence from the get-go and not waiting 'til the second half. That's what I was focused on today for sure."
Edey won.
"I knew what this matchup was billed as, I knew what this meant for me and I knew I could take it to him early," Edey said. "I wanted to set a tone early to show our team we could win this."
The Boilermaker sophomore was 9-of-14 from the floor. He scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds,.
Cockburn was 3-of-9 for 10 points, with five rebounds. Purdue held him to just one offensive rebound, about a quarter of his average.
He fouled out 40 seconds into the first OT, bumping Ivey on a baseline drive.
"We wanted to go at him," Painter said. "We have two guys, two high-level all-conference guys. (Illinois) has one. ... We just wanted to make it hard on him, because you know he's going to make it hard on you. It's impossible."
| Key Sequence | Player of the Game | Stat of the Game |
|---|---|---|
|
Obviously this game was decided in overtime, which obscured the importance of the end of the first half, when Purdue ran off 17 straight points — holding Illinois scoreless for 6:50 — to take an 11-point lead into halftime. Illinois was cold, but Purdue's defense had a lot to do with it. |
Sasha Stefanovic was an absolute killer, making a number of really big shots for Purdue, but this has to go to Zach Edey, who just played a coming-of-age sort of game against the Big Ten's resident Terminator. Edey was markedly better than Cockburn on Cockburn's home floor. |
The Boilermakers held Illinois — the No. 1 offensive rebounding team in college basketball by percentage prior to today — to just eight offensive rebounds, only one by Kofi Cockburn, who averages four per game. Purdue outrebounded Illinois 46-39. |
WHAT IT MEANS
This was a chance for Purdue to sort of reset its Big Ten season after a pair of early losses. The Boilermakers are right back in the thick of things, and just earned a marquee road win for their NCAA Tournament résumé.
Purdue could have closed the game out better, but the Boilermakers showed enough intangibles throughout this wild afternoon to reinforce the thought that they've been trending really well since the Wisconsin loss.
Two road games in a row, Purdue has weathered really inspired runs from the home teams and won in spite of it.
Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?
Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2021. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.