Breakdown: Purdue's win over Wisconsin

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There was no messing around from Zach Edey Tuesday night.

Towering over No. 25 Wisconsin's front line, as he does most every front line, and enjoying plum position around the basket more often than not, the Boilermaker freshman would get the ball, turn, lean into his defender and score, decisively and with distinct authority.

Then, he'd do it again, and again, and again.

When all was said and done, he'd totaled a career-best 21 points and carried 23rd-ranked Purdue to one of its most exhausting wins of the season, 73-69 over a Badger team that stuck to the Boilermakers like gum to the bottom of their shoes, down to the very last second.

In the end, Purdue was just too much.

The 7-foot-4, 290-some-pound Edey was way too much.

"In the first half, I felt like I could get some buckets on them," Edey said after going 8-of-11 from the floor in 17-and-a-half minutes. "I was getting good position. When I get good position, that usually leads to good things. I felt like me being able to work them down and get easy shots was working, and the coaches felt that too, so they went to me a lot."

In the final 10 minutes of one of the hardest-fought games Purdue's played this season, Edey scored 13 of his points between the 10- and three-minute marks of the second half, after Wisconsin led 46-45 with 9:44 to play.

This is what teams do with their best players, lean on them when they're needed most.

This was Purdue's backup center, albeit a really good and highly uncommon one.

"When you have more than five guys who can start," Matt Painter said, "you have a good team."

Edey was the centerpiece of that team on Tuesday, and played like it, even breaking his stoic demeanor a time or two to enjoy his star turn.

"I'm a competitive guy," Edey said. "When the score gets close, my inner competitor comes out and I guess I rode that wave."

Rode it right over the Badgers.

"The guy was a beast, man," classmate Jaden Ivey said.

Edey did so much of the heavy lifting for Purdue on offense, while the Boilermakers battled for stops, finding themselves in the less-than-desirable position of having to trade baskets with the Badgers for most of the second half.

"They struggled to stop us and we struggled to stop them those last 10 minutes," Painter said. "And when we did get them to miss, we either didn't get the rebound or fouled."

Despite Purdue locking down leading scorer D'Mitrik Trice, Wisconsin found ways to score, found ways to tie themselves to the Boilermakers and not let them separate.

Purdue dominated the rebounding column for the game, but a maddening series of offensive rebounds kept the Badgers moving along step-for-step with the home team. And sometimes Wisconsin didn't even have to run offense, twice getting free throws off fouls that occurred at the other end of the floor.

This game could have gone a lot of different ways for Purdue.

But after Micah Potter's putback of Trice's missed three cut Purdue's lead to just 65-64 with 2:28 left, Eric Hunter played off Edey's post-up and scored on a drive. A defensive stand and a Trevion Williams dunk off a deft Sasha Stefanovic entry later and Purdue was finally safe.

Isaiah Thompson and Ivey made key free throws in the final 30 seconds to close out the taxing win.

"It was our toughness," Ivey said of Purdue's finish. "They stuck to us, but it was our toughness. Zach brought us that toughness."

Purdue's other prodigious freshmen — or one of its other prodigious freshmen — continued on.

Ivey scored 18 points on nine shots, and made nine of 10 at the foul line.

His ability to beat Wisconsin off the dribble and make acrobatic finishes at the basket was quite an answer for Purdue for the Badgers' ornery halfcourt defense.

"The first half, I felt they were really tough on me," said Ivey, who faced Wisconsin for the first time. "Doing a lot of cheap stuff. You just had to stay composed. I could have backed down but I didn't. I tried to stay composed."

Three games in a row now, Aaron Wheeler's come up big for Purdue. Maybe a coincidence — or maybe not — that it's 3-0 in those games.

Wheeler was 3-for-3 from three-point range, scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds in 20 minutes.

The veteran's value when he's on isn't tied solely to his shooting, but it's sure helpful when he shoots like he has lately. He's 5-of-6 from three-point territory the past three games.

"I'm always going to take the open ones I get," Wheeler said, "but I'm shooting a little more confidently right now, continuing to put the work in even when I'm shooting well and I feel like it's paying off. But I'm just shooting confidently. That's a big part."

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