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3 takeaways from Purdue’s massive road win over Illinois to clinch outright B1G title
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Purdue defeated Illinois 77-71 on Tuesday night, sweeping the season series against the Illini in the process.
The win also secures the outright Big Ten regular season title for the Boilermakers, who improved to 16-3 in the Big Ten play with the victory. Purdue is also 27-3 overall this season and appears destined for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Zach Edey led the way with 28 points in this game. Braden Smith, who hit a dagger 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining, poured in 13 points of his own.
Here are 3 takeaways from Purdue’s win:
Zach Edey was aggressive
Illinois chose not to double-team Zach Edey for large portions of this game, and he made the Illini pay for that decision. He tied his season-high for field goal attempts in a game with 23 and converted 13 of those shots for a 28-point outing.
When Illinois brought more double-teams in the second-half, Edey showed off his skillset as a facilitator and Purdue’s guards stepped up by making big shots down the stretch. Edey had 3 assists in this game, all of which came after halftime.
Smith scored 13 points on 10 shots. Fletcher Loyer also had a big game, pouring in 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Mason Gillis added 10 points off the bench as well. As a team, Purdue shot 56% from beyond the 3-point line.
Purdue’s defense was excellent in crunch time
Illinois held a lead for most of this game, but Purdue was able to separate in crunch time. The Boilermakers trailed for 28:38 of game time in this contest.
The Illini managed just 1 made field goal in the final 4 minutes of the game. They were out-scored 13-6 over that stretch — a run that included a trio of made 3-pointers by Purdue. Illinois’ only made field goal during that span was a layup by Marcus Domask with under a minute to go in the game.
Overall, Illinois shot went just 1-for-4 from the field during the final 4 minutes of the game.
Purdue makes history
Purdue clinched the outright Big Ten regular season title with this win, moving to 16-3 on the year in league play. The Boilermakers also earned the outright title in 2023, making them back-to-back champs. This marks the first time a program has accomplished that feat since Ohio State did so in 2006-07.
Purdue is now 27-3 on the year and, by any reasonable regular-season metric, has recovered well from last year’s NCAA Tournament disappointment. The Boilermakers have earned the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which is set to begin next week.
Purdue will host Wisconsin on Sunday to close out the 2023-24 regular season.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.