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More: Purdue big men towered over Minnesota
Purdue’s winning right now, at a level even the widest-eyed of optimist probably couldn’t have predicted a little more than a month ago.
Most recently, it the 17th-ranked Boilermakers’ 73-63 win over Minnesota Sunday, Purdue’s seventh win in a row and 10th in 11 games.
But when that red-hot team looked distinctly cooled off against the Golden Gophers, down 13 at home with 14 minutes to go, that’s when the Boilermakers looked like a winner, and not just a team that happens to be winning.
It looked like an extra gear the Boilermakers showed in breaking off a 21-2 run to turn the game on its side and eventually win, again.
“I think the mindset more than a gear, understanding the moment,” Coach Matt Painter said. “You’re at home, being outplayed, (Minnesota) was quicker to the basketball … that stretch right there was a gut check for our team and our guys responded."
In the throes of an atypical shooting day — Purdue was only 1-of-13 from three-point range in the first half — and outplayed to begin the second half, the Boilermakers needed something positive to happen.
It started when Aaron Wheeler saved a ball from going out of bounds, leading to Carsen Edwards — himself in the midst of deep struggles — hitting Matt Haarms for a basket, followed by Edwards making his first and only three of the game and then driving the lane for another basket.
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Once its best player got untracked, so did Purdue.
“Carsen needed the ball to go in, needed to fell better about himself,” Painter said Edwards, who finished 6-of-20 after a 1-of-9 first half. “He’s a guy who can score in a variety of ways, but still, even when you struggle and you’re a great scorer like he is, you still need something to get you going.”
Edwards’ jumper with nine minutes left tied the game at 49, just before Purdue stopped dying by the three and started living by it.
Ryan Cline’s back-to-back triples put the Boilermakers up a half dozen, on their way to leading by as many as nine, then with two minutes left, Nojel Eastern found Grady Eifert at the end of the shot clock for a three-pointer that essentially iced the game for Purdue.
“You’ve just got to find a way to win when your shots don’t fall,” center Matt Haarms said.
Or in this case, until they fall.
But a lot more went into Purdue’s decisive run.
“Defense, for sure (started it),” Nojel Eastern said. “We just locked in. We’d been making careless mistakes, turning the ball over. We focused on the defensive end, made plays, and let the game come to us after that.”
Haarms was pivotal for Purdue in what might have been the most impactful game of his Boilermaker career. In the second half, he came up big on the offensive glass and defensive end, and finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots, capping his afternoon with an and-one with less than a minute to play — also against the end of the shot clock — that ended even if the faintest of hopes for Minnesota.
He and fellow big man Trevion Williams — the latter being the driving force behind Purdue’s 8-0 lead to start the game — proved an outstanding combination, combining for 31 points on 16-of-20 shooting.
Edwards finished with 17 points and five assists, while Cline added 11.
Eastern went for 11 points — he was 5-of-6 at the foul line in game-closing situations, again — but also added six rebounds and four assists and two steals, with only one turnover.
Purdue not held up on the defensive glass against Minnesota — a concern prior to the game — but it outrebounded the Gophers and got most every rebound that really mattered.
And the Boilermakers shot almost 60 percent in the second half.
“Our guys responded in all phases of the game," Painter said.
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