No. 1 Purdue survives Hawkeyes’ comeback, adds another win to ledger

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Zach Edey got Thursday night off scoring-wise for No. 1 Purdue. Until it mattered most.

The Big Ten’s leading scorer at 22.4 points per game had just six points when his team led the Hawkeyes 70-64 with 5:30 left at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers had led by 21 early in the second half.

But the 7-foot-4 Edey scored on a jump hook with 5:08 left, and threw down a dunk 42 seconds later to make it 74-64, and he finished with 14 points as his team went on to an 87-73 win.

⧉ Related article: Zach Edey mostly denied by Iowa, so his Purdue pals came up big

The first-place Boilermakers are 12-2 in the Big Ten and 23-2 overall. Iowa slipped to 7-6 and 15-9, and had its three-game winning streak halted.

Purdue freshman guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer asserted themselves from the get-go. Smith had a career-high 24 points, and Loyer added 17.

Buoyed by full-court pressure that forced a pair of 10-second calls, the Hawkeyes chopped Purdue’s early second-half lead of 46-25 down to six points, but that’s where the rally stopped. A second comeback win from 21 points down — Iowa had one at home against Indiana on Jan. 6 — didn’t get completed.

Before Edey scored off a rebound of a missed Purdue free throw for his first points, his team had built had a 15-4 lead over Iowa before a raucous sellout crowd.

Loyer and Smith combined for the Boilermakers’ first 13 points, and the night was a start-to-finish Purdue party. It was the Boilers’ sixth Big Ten win by at least 13 points.

Purdue had a 38-21 halftime lead. Loyer, Smith and fellow guard Mason Gillis teamed for 25 points in the half.

Iowa airballed three first-half 3-pointers while making just one of its 10 tries in the half.

Edey had 14 rebounds, five blocked shots and four assists. He clearly was in the heads of Hawkeye shooters in the first half. Iowa was 10-of-34 overall in the half before heating up after that.

Kris Murray had 24 points for Iowa, which plays next at Minnesota (7-15, 1-11), Sunday at noon.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com