Breakdown: Purdue's win at Penn State
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Trailing by a point with less than four minutes to play, No. 3 Purdue found the version of itself it couldn't quite find under similar circumstances a few days earlier against Wisconsin, staving off the Nittany Lions en route to a 74-67 win, evening the Boilermakers' Big Ten record at 2-2.
Our breakdown ...
PDF: Purdue-Penn State statistics
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WHAT HAPPENED
As Purdue's done so often over the years, it leaned on Trevion Williams during the most tense moments of a close game.
Williams scored 21 points in as many minutes on Saturday, ushering Purdue to a narrow outcome and the Boilermakers' first road win of the season.
After a 13-point second-half lead went by the wayside thanks in part to foul trouble to Zach Edey and Williams, but more so Penn State's red-hot shooting, Greg Lee put the Lions ahead 65-64 with a three-pointer with 3:42 left to play. It was Penn State's eighth straight made field goal.
Seconds later, though, Williams put back Jaden Ivey's miss and the Boilermakers never trailed again.
The biggest shot of the game?
Take your pick between Mason Gillis' three-pointer with two-and-a-half minutes left to put Purdue up four or Williams' dagger of an and-one with a little more than a minute to play, extending the lead to five.
Penn State didn't score again after Seth Lundy's bucket with 2:08 on the clock. The Lions' most consequential offensive possession of crunch time was ended by a Jaden Ivey steal, and Penn State missed its last three threes.
HOW IT HAPPENED
There were all sorts of circumstances in this game, the most notable being the fact that Edey and Williams were both saddled with foul problems, forcing Purdue to play extended minutes without either of them on the floor, with lineups it never practices with.
Purdue played the last three-and-a-half minutes of the first half with neither of them on the floor, and actually extended its lead, thanks to one of Mason Gillis' many impact plays, this one being a foul drawn on a putback with two seconds left. He made both foul shots to put Purdue up five at halftime.
The Boilermakers did feel the foul trouble in the second half, as Penn State went on an 11-2 run right after Purdue maxed out its lead at 51-38 not long after Edey picked up No. 4. That sequence set up the closely contested final few minutes.
Purdue made clutch shot after clutch shot from there, but Penn State answered every time, until the very end, when the game rested with the Boilermakers' ability to stop Penn State.
Purdue did just that when it mattered most, to cap a game that represented a step forward from a defensive perspective. The final score may not necessarily reflect it, and Penn State's run of eight straight makes certainly didn't, either, but Purdue's energy was different at the defensive end in State College, as were the ultimate results.
"It was a sense of urgency and realizing we're trying to do some big things, trying to win a Big Ten championship and get to the level we want to be to put ourselves in a great position for March," guard Sasha Stefanovic said. "What we've been doing has been kind of embarrassing and not up to our standard of what we do here in this program. We had a reality check, a few really good days of practice and some good film sessions and we learned a lot. It's not an ability thing. We all have the ability to guard. It's more a lack of concentration and focus. When we put our mind to it, I think we can do some big things."
The uncommon circumstance lied, too, with the fact that Penn State's coach knows Purdue's players better than anyone not currently on the Boilermaker payroll. Matt Painter suggested that would be an "advantage" for Micah Shrewsberry and Penn State; whether it turned out to be, that's hard to say, but Penn State did some things Purdue doesn't see often, including a variety of zones, one of them being a box-and-one geared toward Stefanovic.
"He knows our players," Painter said. "He's coached our players. He recruited some of them. That piece gives him a little bit of an advantage preparing for things. He knows who can make shots and who can't, but also who can make shots late in crucial situations and who can't. Who to send left, who to send right. ... All those little knick-knack things that can give you an advantage.
"But you still have the play the game, right? Our players were just a little bit better than their players."
Mason Gillis scored 14 points on five field goal attempts. He was 3-of-4 from three. Stefanovic scored 13 and Jaden Ivey 12.
| Key Sequence | Player of the Game | Stat of the Game |
|---|---|---|
|
The stretch where Trevion Williams scored on the putback to retake the lead, followed by Purdue forcing a shot-clock violation, following by Mason Gillis' three won the game for the Boilermakers. Clutch plays at both ends. |
Look, Trevion Williams obviously was Purdue's foundation late In the game, but there's no way the Boilermakers pull this out with Mason Gillis' shot-making and penchant for those impact moments like the one to end the first half. |
On a strangely even stat sheet, nothing jumps off the page, really. Purdue's ability to execute in the second half though — 54 percent shooting — was a big deal as It had to match scores in so many important moments. |
WHAT IT MEANS
Purdue needed this one. It needed the win and it needed some positive momentum defensively. It got both. It was big for the Boilermakers to win a close game, but also to get some key stops defensively and play through some curveballs with the big men's foul trouble.
We'll see what comes of the Michigan game now, whether It happens as scheduled or not.
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