No. 2 Purdue wins at No. 6 Wisconsin for 7th consecutive victory
MADISON, Wis. — Purdue’s inside-outside combination of Zach Edey and Braden Smith is a tough matchup for the Boilermakers’ opponents.
Even the strongest ones. Smith scored 19 points and Edey joined another exclusive club as the second-ranked Boilermakers beat No. 6 Wisconsin 75-69 on Sunday for their seventh consecutive victory. Purdue is 6-0 this season against teams that were ranked 11th or higher at the time of the game.
“We have an elite point guard and we have an elite center,” coach Matt Painter said. “So when you go into a team, you’ve got to be able to game-plan for Zach Edey. It’s obvious, right? But then, you’ve also got to game-plan for Braden Smith and his ability to pass, because they both make other people better.”
Lance Jones scored 20 points for Purdue (21-2, 10-2), which took the lead for good midway through the first half and extended its Big Ten lead to 1½ games.
Wisconsin (16-6, 8-3) lost its second straight as it prepares for a two-game trip to Michigan and Rutgers.
Edey had 18 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots. The 7-foot-4 center has 201 career blocks, joining Patrick Ewing and David Robinson as the only players in NCAA history to combine 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 blocks while shooting at least 60% from the field.
Edey has scored at least 10 points in an NCAA-leading 74 straight games. Edey broke Rick Mount’s 54-yearold school record for consecutive double-figure scoring games on Wednesday by going for 30 points in a 105-96 overtime victory over Northwestern.
Tyler Wahl led Wisconsin with a season-high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists.