Zach Edey, No. 2 Purdue men handle Hawkeyes Saturday at Carver, 84-70

IOWA CITY — Zach Edey needs to pick on someone his own size.

Unfortunately for the Iowa men’s basketball team, that someone wasn’t them Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It may not be anyone in college ball.

The 7-foot-4, 300-pound senior Edey was a mountain the Hawkeyes couldn’t move Saturday. He had 30 points and 18 rebounds, both season-highs for an Iowa opponent. Edey also blocked four shots, altered several others, drew 10 fouls, and pretty much blotted out the sun and Iowa’s chances of winning in No. 2 Purdue’s 84-70 triumph.

Iowa’s 3-game winning streak was snapped. It slipped to 3-4 in the Big Ten, 11-7 overall. Purdue is 6-2, 17-2.

The Hawkeyes trailed 47-34 at halftime and never got closer than eight after that. When Purdue needed a basket, it took a shot. If it didn’t go in, Edey or one of his teammates often rebounded it, then took another shot.

“Obviously, (Edey) requires so much gravity from our defense,” Iowa wing Payton Sandfort said. “You have to respect him so much. You kind of just have to scramble. That’s how you play defense against them.

“When they get their wide-open looks, we have to get the first rebound. That’s something I struggled with. That’s what got us.”

The rebound total was Purdue 50, Iowa 24. Nineteen of the Boilermakers’ were of the offensive variety. Edey had 15 free throw attempts, Iowa 16.

“That’s not good math,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said.

McCaffery didn’t hide his feeling that Edey got the benefit of more calls than Iowa’s 6-foot-10 freshman center, Owen Freeman.

“I would like to see my guy, he’s (Big Ten) Freshman of the Week six times, get a little more respect,” McCaffery said.

Preparing for Edey, who averages 23.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, “is just different,” McCaffery said.

“It’s a big fella,” said Iowa senior guard Tony Perkins, who had a team-high 24 points.

“I tried to do the best I could,” Perkins said about helping defend Edey and rebound against him, “but 7-5, 300 pounds, it’s hard to move him.”

Before a crowd that easily was the Hawkeyes’ largest (14,232) and most-vocal of the season, Iowa was ahead 18-14 with 12:36 left in the first half. Then came a 14-0 Purdue run, with the last seven points coming with Edey getting a rest on the bench.

Sandfort had 16 points for Iowa. Josh Dix had a career-high seven assists. Freshmen big men Freeman and Ladji Dembele battled, but dealt with foul trouble and were overmatched against Edey. Dembele sprained an ankle in the second half.

The Hawkeyes’ next game is here Wednesday against Maryland at 6 p.m.

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