Second Battle Between Jackson-Davis, Edey Follows Unexpected Path
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Mackey Arena hosted round two of the heavyweight battle between two of college basketball’s best, Zach Edey and Trayce Jackson-Davis, on Saturday night.
Round one went to Indiana on Feb. 4, as the Hoosiers protected home court with a 79-74 win behind 25 points, seven rebounds and five blocks from Jackson-Davis. Despite the loss, Edey was his usual, dominant self in round one, scoring 33 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
It was only right that a rematch was in store, this time with home-court advantage shifting in Purdue’s favor. But inside an atmosphere like no other at Mackey Arena on Saturday, the Edey versus Jackson-Davis battle didn’t play out as most expected.
Early on, Edey dominated the matchup. He was able to establish deep post positioning on Jackson-Davis, and when that happens, it’s close to an automatic bucket. Jackson-Davis struggled to push Edey out of the lane or front the post, and Edey made Indiana pay.
He scored eight points through the first 10 minutes of action, and finished the first half with 13 points, eight rebounds, two turnovers, one assist and one foul. Edey’s foul came on a post-up against Jackson-Davis where he turned toward the basket, swinging his elbow forcefully into Jackson-Davis.
On the other end, Jackson-Davis was close to a non-factor midway through the first half, scoring zero points with just three shot attempts. Trying to enter the ball to Jackson-Davis, Jalen Hood-Schifino turned the ball over on the first possession as Caleb Furst deflected the entry. Purdue brought double-teams wherever Jackson-Davis caught the ball, and the Indiana big man had a turnover of his own trying to pass out of the pressure.
The Boilermakers did a great job of not letting Jackson-Davis post up comfortably, and all attention shifted to Jackson-Davis when he had the ball outside the lane. He added four rebounds, one assist and one block, but sat down with two fouls at the 2:35 mark of the first half.
Even through the struggles, Indiana coach Mike Woodson was proud of Jackson-Davis' response.
"He stayed in the game, mentally," Woodson said. "A lot of great players, when they're struggling like that, they'll start to complaining about this and that. He just rode what was going on. He knew what was happening."
But in somewhat of a miracle, Indiana trailed Purdue by just four points at halftime, 38-34. Brandon Newman knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key just before the halftime buzzer to generate some momentum heading into the locker room. Indiana was able to stay in the game thanks to tremendous play from freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, who scored 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting in the first 20 minutes. Purdue had no answer to his mid-range game and drives to the basket.
"It was an unbelievable display of basketball for him," Woodson said of his freshman point guard.
The matchup between Jackson-Davis and Edey continued to go as no one expected in the second half. The Hoosiers went right to Jackson-Davis on the first possession, but he didn’t come close to making a reverse layup with his trusty left hand. On the other end, Edey started the half by posting up on Jackson-Davis and dishing a nifty assist to a cutting Furst on the left block.
Indiana made a few crucial plays to keep Edey out of rhythm to start the half. Thompson snuck up behind Edey to steal an entry pass, and a strong double-team from Kopp led to a wide-open missed 3-pointer from Ethan Morton in the corner. The Hoosiers’ defense held Edey scoreless to start the second half until the clock read 10:14.
Meanwhile, Jackson-Davis still struggled to find any scoring lanes. He spun through traffic and looked for Thompson on the opposite block, but his pass was deflected for a turnover. A few possessions later, Jackson-Davis backed Edey down on the left block and snuck a pass through the Purdue defense for an easy Thompson dunk. At this point, Indiana was on a 17-2 run across five minutes and 10 seconds of action, and Jackson-Davis still had zero points.
"Trayce, they just weren't going to let him play," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "He got in foul trouble a little bit and gave us some positive minutes in the second half, but we didn't get a whole lot out of him in the first half because they just weren't letting him play."
That changed at the 11:44 mark when – 53 Indiana points into the game – Jackson-Davis finally put a number in the scoring column. He was fouled going up for a dunk and sunk both free throws to give Indiana a 55-48 lead. Jackson-Davis scored his third and fourth points a couple possessions later, but he had to sit on the bench after picking up his fourth foul with over nine minutes to play.
Edey scored 10 points across the next three minutes, with six free throws and two dunks. Indiana’s front court was in serious foul trouble at this point – Jackson-Davis, Thompson and Reneau each with four. Jackson-Davis re-entered the game with six minutes left and scored a quick bucket to push Indiana’s lead to 11.
On its home court with a Big Ten title at stake, Purdue had to make a run, right? That’s how it felt throughout the second half, but it never happened. Edey scored four points in the final five minutes, and the Indiana defense, with stingy coverage on the perimeter, staved off any chance at a Purdue comeback.
Edey finished with 26 points on 8-for-17 shooting, plus a 10-for-14 night at the free throw line. He also grabbed 16 rebounds, dished out three assists, blocked two shots and turned the ball over twice.
From a scoring perspective, Jackson-Davis had his worst game of the season. He finished with 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Woodson said Jackson-Davis stayed mentally locked in throughout the game, and he found other ways to contribute, with eight rebounds and seven assists.
"He filled in nicely in the second half and did a lot of good things like he's done all season for us," Woodson said. "And he was able to contribute and help us secure the win."
The highly-anticipated matchup between Jackson-Davis and Edey didn’t go how anyone expected, and the outcome was a 79-71 Indiana victory. Freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino scored a career-high 35 points, and Purdue had no answer for his mid-range game all night long.
Hood-Schifino said he lives for big games like this, and Jackson-Davis made sure not to get in his way.
"Coach Woody was trying to get me baskets and I told him, I said, 'Coach, not right now.' We're riding [Hood-Schifino] right now," Jackson-Davis said. "And when a guy's hot like that, you've just got to keep giving him the ball."
With this win, the Hoosiers completed the season sweep of the Boilermakers and spoiled their hopes of winning their 25th Big Ten title on Saturday night. Indiana moves to 20-9 overall and 11-7 in Big Ten play, while Purdue drops to 24-5 and 13-5 in the conference. The Hoosiers end their season with a pair of home games against Iowa and Michigan, and Purdue travels to Wisconsin before a home game against Illinois to wrap up the regular season.
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