Purdue 82, Florida A&M 49- Game Wrap

It didn't take long for Braden Smith to show his appreciation in having Zach Edey back on the floor.

After missing his first collegiate game to a 24-hour bug a week ago, Edey and his #1 Boilermakers were back in action in their final non-conference game of the regular season against Florida A&M.

It was a few days after Christmas, but Smith still had a present for the returning Edey, as he lofted a pass high above the rim where the favorite to win National Player of the Year went up and got it and threw down the alley oop dunk for the first points of the game.

Purdue went on to cruise from there, winning 82-49, while never getting close to the Rattlers' bite.

The Rattlers came into Mackey Arena having played one of the toughest schedules int he nation. They also came in as one of the least effective rebounding teams in the country. That's big problems when you're going up against a front court of Zach Edey (7'4") and Caleb Furst (6'10").

Edey's the second best offensive rebounder in the country and Furst is the 28th.

Purdue didn't disappoint on the glass. Second chance points were the edge in the first half, Purdue went into the half up 42-29 and had a 14-0 advantage in second half points.

Purdue out rebounded the Rattlers 16-7 on the offensive glass and had a 22-2 advantage on second chance points. Purdue held the overall rebounding edge 43-25.

It took just 27 minutes for three Purdue bigs to reach double-digits in scoring.

Trey Kaufman-Renn got back to back touches on the left block and delivered two baby hooks to get to 11 points on the game with just over seven minutes gone in the second half. He joined Caleb Furst and Zach Edey in the double-digit club. The bigs combined to go 12 of 14 to start the game showing their ability to dominate inside, in transition, and on the glass.

Caleb Furst would finish the game with 10 points and 6 rebounds, 4 of them offensive.

Zach Edey grabbed 4 offensive rebounds.

Trey Kaufman-Renn finished the game with 11 points and 6 rebounds.

Matt Painter had to be thrilled with how Purdue's starters jumped out of the gates in the second half. Not only did Purdue increase their lead to 30+ within a few minutes, it gave his starters a chance to rest. Rest might be the most precious commodity for a team preparing to enter Big Ten play.

Braden Smith, Ethan Morton, Fletcher Loyer, and Zach Edey all played season-lows in minutes. Loyer and Morton both played just 19 minutes while Edey and Smith played just 22.

It meant that Zach Edey had one of his most ho-hum stat lines of the season, but he was still able to pick up a double-double, with 14 points and 10 rebounds on 4 of 5 shooting and 3 trips to the line.

Braden Smith did what he's done all season, a bit of everything, scoring 7 and grabbing 4 rebounds to go with his 4 assists.

Brandon Newman had his best performance of the season on offense, scoring a season-high 18 points, and knocking down 3 of 6 three pointers.

That means the rest of Purdue's roster continues to struggle to find their shot from distance. They came into the game shooting 31.1% from three. They didn't improve on that mark, going 6 of 25 from three.

Fletcher Loyer was 1 of 5 from three while David Jenkins Jr. hit a three early in the second but couldn't build on the momentum and finished 1 of 4 in the game.