Quick Wrap: Purdue 80, Penn State 60 - The Mason Gillis Game

Mason Gillis was feeling it. Off the bench, the power forward made an early three after subbing into the game, and then another, and another. All told, Mason Gillis would hit 9 three-pointers, setting a Purdue record for most made threes by a Boilermaker in Mackey Arena, and propelling Purdue to an 80-60 victory.

To add a little extra special to Gillis's performance, one of those Boilermakers that held the record at 8, Robbie Hummel, was calling the game.

Mason Gillis's hot first half earned him the start in the second half and it didn't take him long to keep his hot streak going. Gillis finished the game shooting 9 of 12 from three and had 29 points in the game. Both of those are career highs for Gillis.

Purdue jumped on Penn State early with Zach Edey controlling the offensive glass and dominating second chance points. Purdue had 12 second chance points to just 2 for Penn State. Zach Edey finished the game with an efficient 18 points and 13 rebounds in just 28 minutes of action.

Purdue out rebounded Penn State 38-19.

But the night belonged to Gillis who helped spark Purdue's best shooting night of the season. Purdue was 14 of 31 for three for the game.

Penn State had a lot of time to think about Purdue's victory over them at the Palestra. Braden Smith was able to carve them up in the pick and roll and Edey went off for 30 points.

Micah Shrewsberry decided the best to combat that was to go zone and it worked early, stopping Purdue on their first possession by forcing a difficult last second three pointer from Fletcher Loyer.

Another recent change for Shrewsberry was to move senior Michael Henn into the lineup. Henn's ability to stretch the floor paid off on the first possession, giving Penn State the 3 point lead after knocking down a corner 3.

Purdue's first basket came on a pair of offensive rebounds. Zach Edey grabbed the first and the ball moved around before finding Ethan Morton inside. Morton missed his shot, but Furst was there to get the rebound and put back for Purdue's first points.

Seth Lundy got free on a cut to the hoop and slammed in Penn State's second field goal to give the Nittany Lions a 5-2 lead.

Edey's first post touch ended in his first basket as he pivoted to a lay up to cut Purdue's deficit to 1.

His put back on a Furst missed three gave Purdue it's first lead, 6-5.

But Henn's ability to stretch the floor continued to give Edey issues at the other end. Henn hit his second three to push Penn State in front 8-6.

Ethan Morton responded off a Braden Smith kick out pass to give Purdue the 9-8 lead with a three-pointer with 14:30 left in the half.

Henn would bail out a Penn State possession with his third three of the game and Penn State would go back up 11-9.

Edey would tie the game with a finish and foul inside around the 14 minutes mark. He'd miss the free throw.

Smith would then find Mason Gillis open in the corner for three after Lundy missed a similar look for Penn State. Purdue took the 14-11 lead.

Jalen Pickett would respond with a difficult fade away jumper off the dribble for Penn State.

Gillis would knock down his third look at three after Edey drew a foul on a miss to give Purdue the 17-13 lead.

Smith's first bucket was a drive and lay up off the pick and roll to give Purdue a 19-13 lead.

Edey continued to dominate the offensive glass, with his 4th offensive rebound in the first ten minutes, his put back attempt gave Purdue a 21-13 lead. Edey had 7 rebounds overall in the first 10 minutes of action.

Fletcher Loyer would hit a tough floater off a drive to give Purdue a 10 point lead.

Henn would be the first player into double-figures, as many predicted, with a lay up to push the game to 23-15.

Gillis, not to be outdone, knocked down his third three-pointer of the game from the top of the key and Purdue would take the 26-15 lead into the under 8 media timeout.

David Jenkins Jr. got to the foul line, driving left, faking a pass, and then drawing contact. His first free throw went long, but his second fell and Purdue took the 12 point lead.

Seth Lundy's first three was a miracle shot with time expiring and Morton all over him.

Mason Gillis immediately responded with his fourth three-pointer of the game, giving Purdue 30 to Penn State's 18.

Lundy was able to steal a rebound from Gillis off his own miss and finish with a lay up at the rim to cut the lead back to ten.

Braden Smith was able to anticipate a cross court pass, deflecting it forward, containing it and then finishing in transition to push Purdue's lead to 12.

Andrew Funk responded with a nice cut and lay up for Penn State to bring the game to 32-22.

Lundy would hit a tough fall away over Caleb Furst to cut the game back to single digits.

A Zach Edey triple team would get Fletcher Loyer open for his first three of the game, putting Purdue up 35-24.

Pickett would answer with a difficult pull up after navigating into the heart of Purdue's defense.

Myles Dread's three hung up on the rim a second before falling in to cut Purdue's lead to 35-29 with just under a minute to play in the first half.

A flurry of fouls to give and one strange shot clock reversal at the end of the half would have the game stand at 35-29, Purdue, to go into half time.

Jalen Pickett started the second half off with a lay up to cut Purdue's lead to four on the first possession.

Mason Gillis picked up where he started in the first half, getting the start, and knocking down his fifth three of the game off a Zach Edey pass from the post.

Purdue would go up 41-31, on Gillis's 6th three of the game. Gillis came free off a Spain action and he was left wide open at the top of the key. It sent Mackey into a frenzy and when Pickett was called for an offensive foul the next possession, the fans threatened to set a new decibel record for the second straight game.

If it didn't happen then, it probably did when Gillis got free again, connecting for his seventh three-pointer from the corner. Purdue would go up 44-31 on Gillis' 21st point of the game.

Purdue kept feeding the hot hand with Smith driving and finding a cutting Gillis who hit a pull up jumper from the baseline for his first non three-point field goal of the game.

With Mackey teetering, Seth Lundy tried to quiet the crowd with a floater, but Purdue's offense was rolling. This time it was Ethan Morton getting free and knocking down his second three-pointer of the game to give Purdue a 49-33 lead in just under four minutes of second half action.

As the teams went to the bench with the under 16 timeout, the Paint Crew were chanting 'MASON GILLIS.'

Gillis would use the threat of his shot to find Edey inside. Edey couldn't catch the pass clean, but collected it eventually and drew a foul. He would make both free throws to give Purdue the 51-33 lead in what was quickly becoming a blow out.

Myles Dread must not have got the memo. Mason Gillis caught the ball on the left wing with just a little bit of space. He hesitated for a second and then rose up for his eighth made three-pointer of the game. That would tie the record for most threes made inside Mackey Arena by a Boilermaker.

Immediately following, Smith found Edey diving to the hoop and lobbed up a pass for the big man who threw the alley-oop down with two hands over a Nittany Lions defender.

Purdue's lead climbed to 56-33.

Caleb Dorsey was able to get a lone bucket for Penn State amongst a 13-2 Purdue run.

But Purdue threw the ball inside to Trey Kaufman-Renn on the next possession who drew a double, kicked out to Morton at the top of the arc who swung it to Braden Smith in the corner. Smith knocked down his first three of the game to put Purdue up 59-35.

Coming out of a media timeout, Smith weaved through defenders before finding Kaufman-Renn at the rim for an easy lay in. Purdue went up 61-35.

Seth Lundy at the other end would hit a three and draw a foul from Smith.

Lundy would make the free throw to cut the lead to 61-39, but with 10:30 left in the game, Purdue looked unstoppable.

Smith would hit a pull up two-pointer before Lundy would hit his second straight three to pull within 21 of Purdue.

Furst would hit just one of two free throws and Penn State started to get hot from three, with Jalen Pickett hitting back to back threes.

The four threes given up by Purdue in two minutes had Matt Painter calling timeout with 8:41 left in the game Purdue's lead quickly reduced to 64-48.

Purdue went back to Edey after the timeout and the big man finished strong inside with his left hand to extend Purdue's lead to 66-48.

Braden Smith would find Zach Edey for another lob to push Purdue back up 20. Evan Mahaffey would respond with a dunk of his own off a Pickett lob.

Edey's two free throws off a foul call down low would have Purdue back up 20.

Mason Gillis is gonna remember this night for a while. He got just enough space off a screen to get another three off. It went up and in, like the previous 8 three-pointers. His ninth three of the game gave Purdue a 73-50 lead.

It also put Mason Gillis in the Purdue record books. That's a new record for made threes by a Purdue player in Purdue's long history.

Camren Wynter would respond with a three of his own to cut the game back to 20 points.

Mason would then get fouled driving to the hoop. He went to the line with a career-high 29 points.

He'd miss the free throw and stay at 29 points when Painter went to his bench. Gillis walked off the court to a well-earned standing ovation as the benches cleared for both sides.