There's only one way the Gophers can shock No. 2 Purdue
How significant was Minnesota's loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes? It dropped them to 15-8 overall and 6-6 in the Big Ten and set them up for potential disaster as they travel to West Lafayette, Ind. for an extremely difficult matchup with No. 2 Purdue.
Had the Gophers held onto an 18-point lead with just over 13 minutes remaining they would've earned their second Quad 1 win of the season and moved to 7-5 in the conference, which would've been good for fourth place in the Big Ten. Long story short: it was a huge opportunity to bolster their NCAA Tournament resume.
Purdue now awaits for Thursday's game at Mackey Arena, where they have won 18 consecutive games. The last time they lost a home game was Feb. 25, 2023 against Indiana. This season, they're 17-0 at home, stacking up wins like they're nothing.
- Feb. 10: Indiana by 20 points
- Jan. 31: Northwestern by 9 points in overtime
- Jan. 23: Michigan by 32 points
- Jan. 13: Penn State by 17 points
- Jan. 5: Illinois by 5 points
- Dec. 29: Eastern Kentucky by 27 points
- Dec. 21: Jacksonville by 43 points
- Dec. 16: Arizona by 8 points
- Dec. 9: Alabama by 6 points
- Dec. 4: Iowa by 19 points
- Nov. 28: Texas Southern by 32 points
- Nov. 22: Marquette by 3 points
- Nov. 21: Tennessee by 4 points
- Nov. 20: Gonzaga by 10 points
- Nov. 13: Xavier by 12 points
- Nov. 10: Morehead State by 30 points
- Nov. 6: Samford by 53 points
The Boilermakers are a combined 38-2 at home over the past two seasons, with their only losses coming last season to Indiana and Rutgers. Indiana beat them by eight points and their loss to Rutgers was by one point.
And it's not like Purdue is just pounding Big Ten opponents and non-conference cupcakes, they're beating some of the best teams in the country.
Last year, they played sixth-ranked Gonzaga and No. 8 Duke at home and beat them both. This year they beat Gonzaga when the Zags were ranked 11th and they also beat No. 7 Tennessee, No. 4 Marquette and No. 1 Arizona, not to mention a very strong Alabama team that was unranked at the time but is now 16th in the country.
The last time the Gophers touched the hardwood at Mackey Arena they got slapped 89-70. Zach Edey, the 7-foot-3 All-American, finished with 31 points and 22 rebounds that day.
This year's Minnesota team, however, is superior to last season's squad. The Gophers have beaten Nebraska, Northwestern and Michigan State and can make arguments that they blew opportunities to earn what would've been resume-building wins over Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Saturday's loss to Iowa coupled with Dawson Garcia's injury – it's unclear if he'll play Thursday – spark little hope for a Minnesota mega upset. It's not impossible that they'll enter the dragon's lair and live to tell about about, but but history says surviving will be more about what Purdue doesn't do than what Minnesota can do.
In Purdue's only home losses the past two seasons they simply couldn't shoot. Edey was dominant in both games – 19 points, 11 rebounds versus Rutgers and 26 points, 16 rebounds against Indiana – but the rest of the team was abysmal.
Against Indiana, players not named Edey shot 14 of 46 (30.4%). In the loss to Rutgers, players not named Edey shot 13 of 38 (34.2%).
The same thing happened when Fairleigh Dickinson became the second 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament when they shocked Purdue 63-58 last March. In that game, Edey was 7-of-11 shooting with 21 points and 15 rebounds while the rest of the Boilermakers were a combined 12 of 42 (28.5%).
This season, players not named Edey are shooting 45.6%. That is a very clear message to the world that then Purdue is simply playing their normal game and Edey does what he does, they're almost unbeatable.
The Gophers need signature wins and they can get one against Purdue on Thursday, but it's likely going to require a rare cold-shooting night from the No. 2 team in the nation.
Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey (15) dunks the ball over Minnesota Gophers forward Pharrel Payne (21) during the NCAA men's basketball game against the Minnesota Gophers, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind.
© Noe Padilla/Journal & Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK
