Milestone for Edey in rout of Penn State
Purdue standout goes for 30 points, 20 boards in win
Purdue fans treated Zach Edey to a pregame standing ovation in commemoration of him becoming the school’s second player with 1,000 career rebounds.
They serenaded him again following another milestone moment.
The reigning national player of the year scored 30 points, grabbed a season-high 20 rebounds and watched his teammates make 11 3-pointers Saturday as No. 1 Purdue routed Penn State 95-78.
“Not many people can say they’ve had 30 and 20 multiple times in their career at Purdue,” Edey said after achieving the feat for the second time. “I do get to say that, so it’s a pretty surreal feeling.”
For Edey, this was as impressive a game as he’s played. In the first half, he had 19 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks while going 6 of 6 from the field. He finished 10 of 12 from the field and produced just the third 30-20 game with three blocks and three rebounds. And he had plenty of help. The Boilermakers added eight 3s in the first half as they took a 56-36 halftime lead. Lance Jones added 14
points, Fletcher Loyer had 11 and Braden Smith matched his career high with 11 assists.
Purdue (15-2, 4-2 Big Ten) rebounded from Tuesday’s loss to Nebraska with its 10th consecutive home win — and their eighth in a row against the Nittany Lions.
“The big guy played great today — 30 and 20, that’s Wilt Chamberlain-type numbers,” Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said. “We just didn’t have an answer for him.”
Nick Kern Jr. had a careerhigh 18 points to lead Penn State and Kanye Clary added 16. The Nittany Lions (8-9, 24) have lost three of four overall.
“He’s here and he’s obviously a special player, but he’s also one of those guys,” coach Matt Painter said of Edey. “If you’ve faced him, he’s hard to prepare for. You can watch him on film, but you don’t realize how strong he is.”
District women’s games
West Virginia 76, UCF 59: Ja’Naiya Quinerly scored 21 points, Jordan Harrison scored 19 and No. 24 West Virginia (14-2, 3-2 Big 12) pulled away in the third quarter to beat host UCF (9-6, 0-5).
West Virginia, which had lost back-to-back games to No. 10 Texas and at defending Big 12 champion Iowa State, limited the Knights to 29% shooting and forced 26 UCF turnovers, including 12 steals. The Mountaineers went into the game leading the nation in total steals (222) and steals per game (14.8).
Saint Joseph’s 77, Duquesne 62: Laura Ziegler (25) and Talya Brugler (23) eclipsed the 20-point mark as Saint Joseph’s (15-2, 4-1 Atlanticpulled away in the third quarter for a comfortable win against visiting Duquesne (8-8, 3-2) to win their second in a row. Amaya Hamilton led the Dukes with 18 points and five rebounds.
Green Bay 72, Robert Morris 40: Green Bay held Robert Morris (6-11, 2-6 Horizon League) to just over 29% shooting as the host Phoenix (14-3, 7-0) dominated the Colonials to maintain their conference lead. Madison O’Dell and Simone Morris scored 11 points each to lead Robert Morris.