Survive and advance.
In big-time college basketball, that is the only mantra that ultimately matters. Win each game, then move on to the next one.
That is exactly what the Purdue Boilermakers did on Saturday.
It was not pretty at times, but water eventually found its level, and the 5th-ranked Boilers dispatched Penn State, 93-85. Senior Braden Smith jumped into the phone booth before the game to change into his Superman cape. He carried Purdue to its fifth straight conference win without a loss, scoring 26 points and dishing out a season-high 14 assists.
With those statistics, Smith became the first Big 10 player in 20 years with such a line in the box score. To put his game into further perspective, there have been seven times in school history when a player has scored 20+ points and had 10+assists. Smith now has five of them.
Complementing Smith in the scoring column were Oscar Cluff (23), Fletcher Loyer (17), and C.J. Cox (16). The last time Purdue had four players score at least 16 points in a game was March 2, 2002, against Penn State.
With the loss, the Nittany Lions dropped to 0-5 in the Big 10, but their effort against the Boilermakers suggested they are anything but a winless group. They battled and hung around for the entire game, not allowing Purdue, now 15-1 overall, the chance to break the contest wide open.
Shutdown defense was evidently optional in Mackey Arena on Saturday, as both teams scored well above their season averages. Purdue’s 93 points and Penn State’s 85 were almost seven points greater than their norms.
Smith took the lead for the Boilermakers, scoring 15 of his team’s first 22 points through eleven minutes. The undaunted Nittany Lions not only kept pace but held a five-point lead, 29-24, with just under six minutes remaining in the first half.
For the next two-and-a-half minutes, Purdue went on an 11-0 run with five straight scoring possessions. The blitz was fueled by two layups from Cluff, a fadeaway jumper by Smith, and five points from Loyer. The barrage gave the Boilers a 35-29 lead with 3:20 to go in the opening stanza.
Penn State would not fold, thanks to its hot shooting. Both teams combined for eleven straight made baskets in the latter part of the half, and that marksmanship led to the Boilermakers leading by just one, 45-44, at the break.
Purdue busted out of the locker room and sandstormed the Nittany Lions, scoring ten points in less than the first three minutes. A Cox three, which ignited the Paint Crew members into a frenzy, gave the Boilermakers a 55-47 lead. Penn State was held at bay the rest of the way, and the Purdue advantage never dipped below six points for the remainder of the game.
For the game, the Boilermakers shot 58% from the field, but Penn State answered with a 57% clip of its own. Purdue played its cleanest game of the season, only committing a season-low three turnovers. By way of comparison, they were forced into 24 turnovers in their loss to the Nittany Lions last season.
Following the game, Boilermaker head coach Matt Painter was effusive in his praise of his senior All-American point guard.
“He’s the best, man. He’s the best I’ve been around,” he said of Smith. “He puts the defense in a real bind and makes them make some real hard decisions.”
Smith’s backcourt mate reached a special milestone on Saturday. Loyer, a senior who, along with Smith, has started all 126 games in which he has played, scored his 1,500th point against Penn State.
For those keeping track, Smith’s 14 assists boosted his career total to 914, which currently places him 15th all-time. He trails former Ohio guard D.J. Cooper by 20 for 14th place, and he has 162 more to reach Bobby Hurley’s standard of 1,076.
One odd statistic that came out of Saturday’s win was Penn State actually outrebounded the Boilermakers, 28-27. Purdue averages almost a ten-rebound cushion over its opponents, but this anomaly may be the result of their torrid shooting. In other words, there were so many made baskets that rebounds were hard to come by.
Penn State tested the Boilers for 40 minutes, and that is not always a bad thing. Painter can appreciate the win, but he knows his team is far from a finished product. That will allow him to remind his guys that now is not the time for complacency, and stiffer conference tests loom in the near future.
One such test rolls into Mackey Arena on Wednesday night. The nationally-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes visit Purdue to take on the Boilermakers. Game time is set for 6:30 pm EST.
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