Purdue 95 vs Penn State 78- Quick Wrap

#1 Purdue had one final game this week to show its still the best team in the country to AP voters with Penn State coming to town. For the first few minutes, Purdue looked like it might still be caught in the blizzard that hit in Nebraska.

Then Mason Gillis entered the game and an 8-8 tie turned into a 34-12 lead behind a dominant Zach Edey performance and Purdue would go on to win handedly, 95-78.

After the sluggish start, Purdue's offense led the way. Its 26-4 run was sparked by a balanced offensive attack around Zach Edey being too much for Penn State in the paint and on the glass.

Edey got things going scoring seven straight after redshirt freshman Camden Heide knocked in a three that gave Purdue the lead back at 11-10. Then Edey finished a Smith dump off pass with a dunk, got to the line, and scored on an And-1 inside to give Mackey Arena and its returning students something to cheer about.

When Braden Smith forced a steal, cut up court, then stopped to drop off a pass for the full steam running Edey and a monster two-hand dunk, the arena in West Lafayette was at full throttle. The students were back and the Boilers were rolling again.

Purdue's three-point shooting also got going with Braden Smith knocking in a three-pointer, Fletcher Loyer hitting one, and true freshman Myles Colvin knocking down a left wing three as part of a five-point first half performance.

Kanye Clary did his part for Penn State, as he has most the season, holding up an offense that's struggled to find points outside of his production. Clary had 16 points and was helped out by 18 from Nick Kern Jr..

But Purdue was too good at getting Edey the ball inside, and making threes when he was kicking it out. Purdue knocked down 11 threes for the game and shot just under 60% from the field as a team.

Penn State was just 9 of 28 from three while being outrebounded by nearly 20.

After two games of Edey being taken out of Purdue's offense as much as possible, Edey's dominance returned in a big way against a Penn State team that never had any hope of slowing down the big man.

Edey had one of his best performances of the season, scoring 30 points and grabbing 20 rebounds. Edey was entirely too much for a Nittany Lions team that's struggled on the glass all season. Edey out rebounded the entire team of Penn State by the time he went to the bench with a little over six minutes to play in the game. He was also very efficient. Edey went 10 of 12 from the line and made 10 of 14 free throw attempts.

It is Edey's second career game with at least 30 points and 20 rebounds.

After earning the start in Purdue's second half against Nebraska, Camden Heide continued to be one of Matt Painter's best pieces off the bench. Heide followed up his 20+ minute performance against the Cornhuskers by knocking down two more three-pointers, making both his attempts and getting to the line on another three-point shot. His 8 points and 1 rebound came in just 13 minutes of action.

It's not just that Mason Gillis is Purdue's best three-point shooter. Gillis, a senior, is Purdue's sharpest player. By that, I mean whne he's on the floor, he's Purdue's most precise weapon. He runs hard. He cuts hards. He screens hard. He plays with a purpose that Painter has preached about all season.

Purdue was letting Penn State hang around to start the game. Its offense was on autopilot and it looked like it was going through the motions.

Then Gillis came in, and Purdue's offense started to cut into Penn State's defense. Gillis' states won't read like it, but he was integral for Purdue's ramp up in play in the first half. Gillis had 7 points, a rebound, and 2 assists. But Gillis had a +/- of +30 in his 18 minutes of action.

Matt Painter took advantage of the lopsided score to get his only true freshman, Myles Colvin, some valuable time on the court. Painter let Colvin get an extended run in the first half where Colvin showed some of the tantalizing shot making that made him a four-star prospect out of Heritage Christian.

Colvin made a difficult, but pretty fall away mid-range jumper in the first half and an open three-pointer in the first half.

Colvin was able to get out in transition in the second half, after a steal allowed a throw ahead pass to Colvin where Colvin split a defender with a hop step and get a lay up to go for his third bucket of the night.