After a week off for Finals Purdue struggled through much of its first game this season as the nation's No. 1 ranked team. Purdue was just 3 of 25 from three and 19 of 58 from the floor. The Boilermakers connected on only two field goals in the last 12:23, but shot 28 of 37 from the line in the second half to earn a hard fought 69-61 win over Davidson in the Indy Classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Purdue started off dominant on both ends, as the Boilers raced out to a 9-0 lead by the first media timeout. Fletcher Loyer connected on a 15-footer and a three on Purdue’s first two possessions, as Davidson missed its first eight field goal attempts.

Then it was time for a couple of Boilermaker milestones. Zach Edey scored his 1000th career point on a putback with 14:12 left in the first half and earlier collected the 100th blocked shot of his career with 15:26 left in the first half. He is the 55th player in Purdue history to reach 1,000 career points.

The Wildcats were able to change up their defensive pressure and disrupt Purdue’s offensive flow. Much like Nebraska a week previous, Davidson challenged Zach Edey with a double team on every post touch and Purdue struggled to shoot from outside. Davidson clawed back into the game and took its first lead on a dunk by Sam Mennenga with 7:44 left in the first half that made it 15-14.

From there the Wildcats struggled mightily to keep Edey off of the offensive glass, as he was able to erase several Purdue misses with offensive rebounds and putbacks. Purdue struggled on the other end, however, and Foster Loyer put Davidson in front 25-24 with a three with 2:25 left in the half. An Edey dunk with 1:14 left put Purdue back in front.

Purdue held a 28-27 lead at halftime, and the 28 points was Purdue’s lowest total of the season for the first half. Edey had 17 of Purdue’s 28 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the floor, but the rest of Purdue was 3 of 22. After Fletcher Loyer connected on the first two shots of the game for Purdue the Boilers managed only three from Braden Smith with 6:53 left in the half outside of Edey.

The start of the second half was the Caleb Furst show for Purdue. The sophomore forward had a scoreless first half, but was incredibly active inside to start the second half. He scored 10 of Purdue’s first 11 points in the second half and collected multiple offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive. This allowed Purdue to push its lead to 39-31 just after the first media timeout.

The Boilermaker offense struggled most of the afternoon outside of Edey and Furst inside. Midway through the second half Purdue was 2 of 18 from three before Ethan Morton connected from long range with 12:23 left. That allowed Davidson to stay close, as the Wildcats clawed back to 42-41 with 10:54 left. Foster Loyer and Mennenga provided much of the scoring punch, but Davidson also struggled to shoot the ball.

That is where Purdue’s dominance on the glass really showed. The Boilermakers had three players finish with double-digit rebounds in Edey, Furst, and Smith, and overall Purdue outrebounded Davidson 48-31. That domination on the glass allowed Purdue to edge in front 49-43 with 7:54 left thanks to Edey scoring six straight.

Davidson refused to go away, however. Despite playing with four fouls Mennenga hit on a big three-pointer with 4:14 left to make it 54-51 Purdue. This was during a stretch where Purdue hit on only one field goal in more than eight minutes and scored 12 of 14 points from the line.

Coming out of the final media timeout with only a three point lead Edey connected on two more from the line to make it 56-51. The defense then forced a turnover and Fletcher Loyer was fouled on a loose ball situation, leading to two more free throws. Davidson refused to go away, however, as Conner Kochera converted an and-1 three-point play to cut the lead to four.

Braden Smith then turned the ball over on a bad pass, but Davidson came up empty on its next possession with a missed three that bounced over the backboard. Smith then hit a short jumper after a Furst offensive rebound before Edey got a steal. Fletcher Loyer was able to get to the line with 1:51 and hit a pair to make it 62-54 and give Purdue some breathing room.

Davidson answered with a three from Desmond Watson to make it 62-57 with 1:40 left. A nice feed to Furst from Edey led to a layup on the other end. Fletcher Loyer was then fouled on a rebound with one minute left and connected on two more free throws to make it 66-57.

Three players finished with a double-double for Purdue. Smith had 10 points and 12 rebounds to go with four assists. Furst finished with 12 points, all in the second half, and 13 rebounds. Edey was his usually dominant self with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 assists. Fletcher Loyer finished with 14 and was 9 for 10 from the line. Purdue was 24 of 30 on free throws for the second half.

Purdue hosts New Orleans Wednesday.