Purdue Basketball: Takeaways in close road loss to No. 14 Rutgers

Purdue Basketball fought hard against a ranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights team, but couldn’t get it done on the road.

Purdue Basketball met the No. 14 Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the RAC for a Big Ten conference matchup. A major storyline entering the game was if and how the Boilermakers would take advantage of a Rutgers team that was without star Ron Harper Jr. and freshman center Cliff Omoruyi.

After one half, Purdue fell behind after a barrage of three-pointers from their opponent. Rutgers converted 7 of their 13 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half, jumping out to a 40-34 lead after 20 minutes.

Purdue came back quickly in the second half to lead 46-44 with 17 minutes to play. This was their first lead since the 13-minute mark in the first half. The two teams traded the lead back and forth until a late run from Rutgers in the final five minutes proved to be the difference. Rutgers came away with an 81-76 victory.

Offensively, Purdue Basketball was led by junior forward Trevion Williams, who contributed 21 points on 10 of 12 shooting. Sophomore guard Isaiah Thompson added 17 points off the bench, only missing one attempt from the field in eight tries. Junior guard Sasha Stefanovic put in 14 points of his own.

The Scarlet Knights were paced by junior guard Montez Mathis, who scored a game-high 25 points on 60% from the field.

With the loss, Purdue Basketball falls to 2-2 in the Big Ten and 7-4 overall. No. 14 Rutgers improves to 3-1 in conference play and 7-1 overall.

Junior Trevion Williams is Purdue’s go-to guy

Forward Trevion Williams led Purdue Basketball with 21 points tonight. He currently leads the team in scoring and has posted double-digit point totals in eight of the team’s 11 games. His efficiency was fantastic, converting 10 of his 12 field goal attempts.

Williams has consistently improved his scoring ability over his three years at Purdue. In the December 12th matchup against Indiana State, he poured in 30 points on excellent efficiency while pulling in 11 boards.

Williams also leads the Boilermakers in rebounding by a wide margin with 9.7 per game. He ranks third on the team in assists per game. Williams’ fingerprints have been all over Purdue’s play this season. He has been their best player thus far and he will be the go-to guy as they go deeper into conference play.

There’s a reason he was a preseason All-Big Ten selection. The junior has proven he can show up in big games, posting 16 points, eight assists, and nine rebounds in an upset of a ranked Ohio State team earlier this year.

Purdue’s lack of big-man depth will be a problem moving forward

Rutgers was without two of their top three rebounders, and only narrowly lost the battle on the boards. Purdue came away with 33 rebounds while the Scarlet Knights finished with 31. Trevion Williams led the Boilermakers in rebounds with 12 while no one else pulled in more than four. If anything, this game made Purdue’s lack of depth down low extremely apparent.

Including Williams, Purdue has just three big men who played in the game against Rutgers. Junior forward Aaron Wheeler played just seven minutes, scoring zero points and tallying two rebounds. 7’4″ freshman center Zach Edey checked in for ten minutes that resulted in three points and three boards. Wheeler and Edey are Purdue’s two best rebounders other than Williams, and they barely played. It’s a wonder Purdue pulled in more boards than the Scarlet Knights.

As a team that has recently benefitted from having dominant big men, the Boilermakers seemed like they didn’t care to play their bigs in this game. For reference, Purdue had three guards come off the bench and combine for 50 minutes. It’s extremely strange that Zach Edey only played ten minutes given how well he has performed down low this season. If the Boilermakers continue to exacerbate their lack of big-man depth by limiting the minutes of two of their best rebounders, they may find themselves in deep trouble against the talented bigs of the Big Ten.

Purdue Basketball needs to figure out how to win on the road

With the loss, Purdue Basketball is winless in road games at 0-3. Meanwhile, they are undefeated at home with a 5-0 record. Nine of the 14 Big Ten programs are currently ranked in the AP Top 25, with another receiving votes. Securing road victories may be more difficult than ever this season given the strength of the conference.

Last season, 11 of 14 Big Ten teams had a sub-.500 road record. In a conference where the home-court advantage is so drastic, any road wins can have a major impact on final standings. Purdue is a competitive team, although perhaps not one of the conference’s most talented. They need to figure out how to steal games on the road sooner rather than later.

Purdue will have their first opportunity to end their road woes when they travel to No. 15 Illinois this Saturday. Illinois is 7-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play.