3 reasons No. 1 Purdue basketball lost to Rutgers: Scarlet Knights cut Boilers down again

Wilson Moore, Indianapolis Star
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WEST LAFAYETTE -- For the second year in a row, Purdue basketball entered a game against Rutgers ranked No. 1 in the country. For the second straight year, Rutgers knocked off the favored Boilermakers, taking an early lead and not blinking down the stretch as Purdue made a second-half run behind a full-throated Mackey Arena crowd for a 65-64 road upset.

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The game was decided in the post

Jan 2, 2023; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) pushes against Rutgers Scarlet Knights forward Mawot Mag (3) during the first half at Mackey Arena.
Jan 2, 2023; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) pushes against Rutgers Scarlet Knights forward Mawot Mag (3) during the first half at Mackey Arena.

Any questions of where the majority of the game would be played were answered in the opening moments, as Rutgers won the opening tip and immediately got the ball to Clifford Omoruyi in the post, working on Zach Edey. The Scarlet Knights' center drew a foul. Edey got Purdue on the board with a putback minutes later.

Throughout the night, they guarded each other. Omoruyi finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Edey, limited by foul trouble in the first half, sparked Purdue's charge in the second, posting up and drawing fouls to score 19 points and grab 11 boards.

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Everyone else on the floor matched the physical, inside-out tone set by the two bigs. The teams combined for 48 points in the paint and shot a collective 13-for-37 from 3-point range. Purdue guard Braden Smith drove through the lane and buried his shoulder in the chest of Derek Simpson in the first half to draw a foul. Edey faced a barrage of extra bodies whenever he got the ball in the post.

Purdue struggled from the field early

The flip side of a game that featured so much slashing, driving and play at the rim was Purdue's inability to find any production from outside the paint. Rutgers' guards played the Boilermakers tightly well beyond the 3-point line, forcing them into a 2-of-11 night from deep in the first half.

A clean look from Ethan Morton at the first-half buzzer that bounced out after hitting every part of the rim set the tone for an improved second half, even as Purdue couldn't do quite enough to erase the deficit. Fletcher Loyer stemmed a a brief run at the beginning of the half, Caleb Furst hit another two possessions later to cut Rutgers' lead to 6 and Brandon Newman buried a triple with under five minutes remaining to give Purdue its first lead since the first half.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights center Clifford Omoruyi (11) dunks the ball during the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights center Clifford Omoruyi (11) dunks the ball during the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena.

Rutgers made more plays down the stretch

Even as Purdue made its push in the second half, Rutgers consistently had an answer and took advantage of the moments the Boilermakers weren't perfect. When Newman knocked down a jumper to cut the lead to 3 points, Paul Mulcahy responded with a basket. After Loyer missed two free throws in the final minutes, it was again Mulcahy extending Rutgers' lead.

While Rutgers couldn't match Purdue's sheer talent, it's a tough, experienced team that didn't flinch in the final moments.

And after a Loyer 3-pointer with 30 seconds to go, Cam Spencer responded with his own trey, giving Rutgers a lead in the final seconds it didn't relinquish.

Rutgers 65, No. 1 Purdue 64

RUTGERS (10-4): Mag 1-4 0-0 2, Omoruyi 4-11 3-4 12, McConnell 3-9 0-0 6, Mulcahy 7-13 1-1 16, Spencer 6-8 0-0 14, Hyatt 3-7 1-2 8, Simpson 1-5 2-2 5, Woolfolk 0-0 2-2 2, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Reiber 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 9-11 65.

PURDUE (13-1): Furst 3-5 0-3 7, Edey 6-10 7-9 19, Loyer 2-6 4-6 10, Morton 1-2 0-0 2, Smith 1-3 4-4 7, Newman 4-9 0-0 11, Gillis 2-4 3-4 7, Jenkins 0-3 0-0 0, Kaufman-Renn 0-6 1-2 1. Totals 19-48 19-28 64.

Halftime—Rutgers 34-24. 3-Point Goals_Rutgers 6-14 (Spencer 2-4, Mulcahy 1-1, Omoruyi 1-2, Simpson 1-2, Hyatt 1-4, McConnell 0-1), Purdue 7-23 (Newman 3-6, Loyer 2-5, Smith 1-2, Furst 1-3, Gillis 0-1, Morton 0-1, Kaufman-Renn 0-2, Jenkins 0-3). Rebounds_Rutgers 28 (Mulcahy 8), Purdue 31 (Edey 11). Assists_Rutgers 14 (Mulcahy 6), Purdue 15 (Smith 4). Total Fouls_Rutgers 24, Purdue 11.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue basketball vs. Rutgers: No. 1 Boilers lose to Knights again