Looking Back: 3 Takeaways from Purdue's Win at the Palestra

Purdue went to Philadelphia and answer the ring of the Liberty Bell, defeating Penn State in a "neutral site" game, 76-63, after trailing by 6 at halftime.

Led by Zach Edey's 30 points, Purdue fought off the scrappy Nittany Lions, improving their record to 15-1 heading into the first week of the second semester. Purdue will next play Friday when they host Nebraska for a rematch from the December Contest, in which Purdue won 65-62.

Looking back is fun, it is even more so when it is after a win. Here are three takeaways from the victory last night.

Zach Edey continues to be the most dominant player in College Basketball. The 7-4 Native Canadian put up 30 points and grabbed 13 points over Penn State at the Palestra last night.

Edey is by far the most dominant player in college basketball to date. He is a matchup nightmare, night in and night out for opposing teams. Obviously, not many teams have another 7-foot center to match up with him and if they do, he is not nearly as skilled.

Teams have resorted to double, even triple-teaming Zach, forcing Purdue to kick the ball out and shoot threes. While that has slowed the Purdue offense down a bit, in the second half, it only opened the floor up for cutting guards and open shots around the perimeter, where Purdue hit 44% of their threes, including 62% in the second half.

Braden Smith had a couple of rough games in December. But, he has put those games in the rearview.

During Purdue's two road wins, Braden combined for 31 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds, and only two turnovers. A 13:2 turnover ratio is pretty darn good for a guy that logged over 33 minutes in both games.

Smith continues to be the best true point guard that Coach Painter has had since Chris Kramer, doing it all on both ends of the court, controlling the ball, initiating the offense, and limiting turnovers.

He is only 16 games into his Purdue Career. The best is yet to come.

The Purdue defense continues to improve. In the first half of the game, Jalen Pickett torched Purdue for 18 points. In the second half, Penn States' best player only scored 8, after the adjustment to pick him up full court with Ethan Morton.

Rotations have gotten better in the last two games as well. The basics of basketball defense have improved, even since last Monday's loss to Rutgers. Zach Edey is starting to become a consistent threat to protect the rim for 30+ minutes a night, as he had 3 blocks last night.

Purdue has always hung their hat on defense, last season, that mantra disappeared. Doing the little things right, "Playing Hard" and being in the right positions to defend goes a long way with Coach Painter's man defense.

That was evident last night, late in the game when Penn State tried to make a final push and was denied.

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