Purdue 83, Xavier 71- Quick Wrap

Braden Smith flirted with another triple-double, Zach Edey secured another double-double, and Matt Painter's Purdue Boilermakers move to 3-0 on the season after beating Xavier 83-71 at Mackey Arena.

Purdue moved up one spot in the AP poll today, and the #2 team in the country looked to pull away from Xavier early. Zach Edey, National Player of the Year, looked to have added a running hook to his bag, and when he got one to go to give Purdue a 25-21 lead, the Boilers looked ready to go on a run.

On the next player, Ethan Morton deflected a defensive rebound to Edey who pushed it into Braden Smith's hands who got up the court and sucked in the defense before dropping it off behind him to a following Fletcher Loyer. Loyer drained a three from two steps behind the three-point line to go up 28-21 with 6:37 in the first half.

But Xavier wasn't gonna go down without a fight. Allowed to be physical with Edey inside, they forced an Edey turnover that turned into a Trey Green three at the other end before getting a Kachi Nzeh to cut into the Boiler lead 33-29 with just over two minutes to play.

But true freshman Myles Colvin sealed the half with his second three from the corner of the half and Purdue went into intermission with a 37-29 lead.

Fletcher Loyer's defense sparked Purdue early, stealing a pass back out to the perimeter and then finishing on the perimeter. But Purdue knows where its bread is butter, and started finding Edey inside in the second half.

Edey hit two free throws after a foul in the post, then finished an And-1 through Abou Ousmane to score five points in two possessions. A Loyer rebound off his own miss and lay up would then put Purdue up 46-35 with 17:10 to play as Purdue started to extend its lead forcing Sean Miller into an early second half timeout.

Purdue did a good job getting to the line in the second half. Edey early and then Lance Jones attacking in both transition and the half court, but a Gytis Nemeiksa three-pointer pulled the game to five with just under 14 to play.

Xavier continued to respond to Purdue's punches, carving up Purdue's defense at times, and hitting tough mid-range floaters and jumpers.

Then Braden Smith got going. He knocked down a pull up and then got into transition, beating Xavier down court and getting up to the rim. Smith hung in the air, contested at the rim, swung the ball around and fired a pass back out to Ethan Morton who knocked down the three to give Purdue a 65-52 edge just past the halfway mark of the second half.

If the senior didn't finish things, the true freshman Myles Colvin might have, knocking down his third three of the game off a Caleb Furst pass out from the paint that put Purdue up 71-57 with 6:10 left in the game.

Xavier's Desmond Claude tried to bring Xavier back late, hitting a step back three that bounced off glass and in that temporarily cut the lead to single-digits, 73-64 around the four minute mark but Edey found Gillis for a lay up at the hoop at one end and Kachi Nzeh threw a pass out of bounds at the other to help Purdue seal its third victory of the season.

Braden Smith had 12 points to go with 7 assists and 6 rebounds as he makes a case for best point guard in the Big Ten.

Zach Edey had 28 points and 11 rebounds as he continues to look like the best player in college basketball.

Purdue also got help from two freshman, Camden Heide and Myles Colvin who combined to score 13 points on a perfect 5 of 5 from the floor.

Fletcher Loyer had 11 points and Lance Jones had 8 points and 5 assists for Purdue.

Purdue held Desmond Claude to 15 points and Xavier to 7 of 25 from three.

Purdue was nearly out rebounded with Xavier grabbing 29 to Purdue's 34 on the glass. It continues a trend of being out rebounded on the offensive end. Purdue had 5 offensive rebounds to Xavier's 8 and Xavier had 9 second chance points to Purdue's 8.

But Purdue was able to limit turnovers, committing just 11 and had another good three-point shooting game, knocking down 7 of 15.

Camden Heide has been close in Purdue's first two games of the season. The high-flyer just hadn't quite been able to get a dunk to go.

Not anymore. Early in the first half, Lance Jones stole a pass back out to the perimeter. Then he turned on the jets, going by one Musketeer and then another before looking right for a split second. Running with him was redshirt freshman Camden Heide and Jones threw up a ball for the wing and Heide threw the alley-oop pass down with two hands.

It wasn't the only time Jones' defense would lead to Heide points. Jones would get his hand on a dribble a couple minutes later and again blow by Xavier defenders before dumping it slightly behind him to at railing Heide. Heide was able to corral the pass, spin away from a defender, and finish with a left-handed lay up.

Another game, another pair of freshman giving Mackey Arena something to cheer about.

Camden Heide finally got his first dunk to go, an alley-oop pass from Lance Jones in transition, and added another lay up finish in transition as part of a quality five minutes in the first half.

Purdue finished with Myles Colvin playing next to the starters and he didn't disappoint, knocking down two corner threes, including one to finish the first half.

Colvin didn't take long to make an impression in the second half, after sitting most the half, Colvin came in just past the ten minute mark. When Sean Miller went to zone, Colvin knocked down his third three after a kick out from Caleb Furst.

Heide finished the game with 4 points on 2 of 2 shooting while Colvin had 9 points on 3 of 3 shooting, a combined 5 of 5 for the freshman in their third game.