The 3-2-1: Purdue's win at Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. — Analysis from Purdue's 84-80 overtime win at Wisconsin.

Carsen Edwards scored 36 points against against the Badgers.

But his far-and-away best play of the night was the shot he didn't take.

His assist — it won't go down as an assist, because passes that generate fouls don't, though they really should — to Grady Eifert, which led to the go-ahead free throws, was just a perfect play.

Consider context.

Purdue's mandate from the sideline was to get a quick shot, for the sake of the 2-for-1, per Matt Painter.

Edwards' scoring instincts, his most powerful instinct as a player, must have been to get that shot up.

For him to have the presence of mind in that moment, and the impulses they may have stoked, was really something, and said something about the player. That was a situation where a great scorer was a great decision-maker and a winner, because that was a winning play.

Edwards' decision-making is arguably the key for this team as it's constructed around him.

When he makes good decisions, good things tend to happen, and this was Example 1A.

Purdue composed itself for overtime and deserves a ton of credit for that, but it also took some shots late in regulation that probably didn't jibe all that well with lead maintenance, reminding of some of the Boilermakers' prior intangible failings in road games.

And not that it's a poise indictment or anything like that, because stuff happens, but for Purdue to miss 13 foul shots and win a close game on the road is really an oddity. Wisconsin missed eight, so that helped.

Purdue doesn't win this game without Grady Eifert playing as he did, from the start of the game — he basically accounted for Purdue's first five points — to the end of the game — when he contributed to the game's most important defensive stop and then made the go-ahead foul shots on a night when literally everyone was missing free throws.

His nine points and two steals loomed large in a game in which every little thing did matter, as did his complementary defense at times on Ethan Happ. The few times Purdue stopped Happ on this night. Eifert was often part of it.

But don't forget fellow 4 man Aaron Wheeler, too, who gave Purdue a burst of first half energy during an important stretch. Wheeler didn't play well at Michigan State — few did — so that was an encouraging response from a young player.

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