Rutgers, it’s always Rutgers. Playing at Jersey Mike’s Arena, formerly knows the RAC, has all the charm of passing a kidney stone. Credit Steve Pikiell, Rutgers used to be the doormat that bad teams got right against. No more, Pikiell created a hard nosed basketball culture in Piscataway. To put it mildly, the RAC is a nightmare house for the Boilermakers.
Each of the last two years unranked Scarlet Knights teams knocked Purdue from the No. 1 ranking. No Purdue fan needs, or wants, to be reminded of Ron Harper Jr’s forty foot heave that beat Purdue at the buzzer in the same week as Purdue’s first ever No. 1 ranking. It looked as though the Scarlet Knights had a similar plan in mind for the Boilermakers on Sunday. But this Purdue team is different.
Rutgers mucks games up. It’s the strategy that’s worked in the past two years against Purdue. Play as physically as possible and hope the Boilermakers miss outside shots. Purdue didn’t shoot it well on Sunday, shooting only 26% from three point range. They allowed Rutgers to pull within two points after being up thirteen. It’s exactly the type of game Purdue lost in the last two years. This Purdue team is different. The differences? Zach Edey is better than he was last year as the National Player of the Year, and Lance Jones is the athletic guard Purdue sorely lacked last season. Edey ate as he always does and Jones made every hustle play possible down the stretch.
How special is Zach Edey? He’s the prohibitive favorite to win the National Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Ralph Sampson last accomplished that feat forty years ago. Edey leads the B1G in scoring at 22.9 points per game and rebounding grabbing 11.4 rebounds a game. He improved his lateral quickness in the offseason and effectively closes off the lane to opposing offenses.
Edey Reaches 2,000
Edey Became the sixth Boilermaker to score 2,000 points in a career. It’s a remarkable feat for any college basketball player. Two thousand points is, perhaps, even more remarkable for Edey who played his first organized game of basketball at fifteen. Edey destroys statistical milestones and approaches Purdue legends Rick Mount and Jo Barry Carroll with each successive game.
Overtaking Jo Barry Carroll’s career rebounding mark seems to be a mere formality. Edey needs only 61 rebounds to eclipse Carroll’s 1087 rebounds. Rick Mount’s career scoring record is a bit more daunting. Edey is 306 points behind Mount after Sunday’s game. The biggest question as to whether Edey will overtake Mount is, will he play enough games to do it. If Edey leads Purdue where every fan longs to go, the Final Four, then becoming Purdue’s career scoring leader is likely.
Wooden, Mount, Carroll, Dischinger, and Robinson, these are the names. The greatest players to don the Old Gold and Black. I remember watching Glenn Robinson dominate the Big Ten his junior year. No one scored the ball like the Big Dog. I’ve never seen another player like him in college basketball. Those who watched Rick Mount say that no one shot the ball like the Rocket. Edey is that kind of generational player for the Boilermakers. Purdue fans had better enjoy the remainder of Edey’s time at Purdue. We won’t see a player dominate games the way he does again.