Penn State Can't Contain Zach Edey at No. 1 Purdue
Penn State, fresh off a letdown loss to Northwestern, traveled to Purdue on Saturday for a date with the No. 1 Boilermakers. Things went pretty much as expected, if not significantly worse. Purdue controlled the flow of the game easily and wound up with a 95-78 victory, giving Penn State a two-game skid.
Reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey had one of his better career performances, putting up 30 points with 20 rebounds, while Kanye Clary again led Penn State with 16. Penn State (8-9, 2-4 Big Ten) simply was outmatched at Mackey Arena.
Purdue dominates offensively
Statistically, Penn State actually shot the ball better than it has in a handful of its losses, converting about 32 percent from 3-point range with just nine turnovers. But a 43-24 total rebounding deficit spelled the biggest reason why the Nittany Lions couldn’t gain any traction.
Helped by Edey’s 20 boards (six offensive), Purdue scored 38 of its points in the paint and converted 58 percent shooting from the field. The Boilermakers ran extremely well in transition, too, grabbing 21 fastbreak points.
Penn State has been overwhelmed on the interior for most of this season, but it never quite looked as bad as it did against the 7-4 Edey. Penn State coach Mike Rhoades tried all he could, playing some small-ball lineups with 6-7 forward Leo O’Boyle at center, but nothing was making a dent.
Players who stepped up
Thanks to the hefty deficit Penn State faced all afternoon, Rhoades opted to give some minutes to players who haven’t seen a ton of them lately. Jameel Brown and Demetrius Lilley were the only Nittany Lions with positive +/- numbers Saturday in each of their longest outings of the season.
Brown (13 points) provided a needed spark from beyond the 3-point line, draining a trio of triples in the first half to spark the only major run Penn State had. He finished with 13 points on 5-9 shooting. Lilley, meanwhile, scored just four points but had the tough task of facing up Edey for multiple possessions.
VCU transfer Nick Kern Jr. continued a string of nice performances with a career-high 18 points on 7-9 shooting. He’s one of the more dynamic athletes on the roster and has now put up double-digit outings in three of his last four. Kern plays strong defense and is a good cutter to the rim.
Penn State's stars went cold
While the shooting looked better on paper, the guys Rhoades typically leans on behind the arc had a rough showing. Ace Baldwin Jr., Puff Johnson, Zach Hicks and D’Marco Dunn went a combined 2-12 from deep. Hicks was actually the lone one to make a 3, as he had a bounceback performance going 2-4 after a string of rough outings. After explaining that he wanted his team to have some more swag while shooting after losing to Northwestern, Rhoades certainly didn’t get that Saturday.
Up next
Penn State returns to the Bryce Jordan Center on Tuesday to host No. 15 Wisconsin. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.
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Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59.
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