Illinois had cut an early 16-point deficit by more than half. Defending National Player of the Year Zach Edey had just picked up his second foul. Purdue, for perhaps the first time at Mackey Arena this season, had been staggered, at least slightly, with a little more than eight minutes to go in the first half of a huge top-10 showdown with the Illini.
What transpired over the next eight minutes and change was proof of why this year’s Purdue team is different… and why the Boilermakers feel like a lock to run away with the Big Ten championship.
The traditional line of thinking amongst the many coaches that have faced Purdue since Edey emerged as college basketball’s most dominant force has been that perhaps your only chance of beating the Boilermakers is hammering Purdue when Edey is on the bench. Illinois received a golden chance to do just that Friday night. Instead, the Illini were outscored by eight in the final eight minutes of the first half. That gave Purdue a 15-point halftime lead, one that set the tone for a cruise-control second half that saw the lead balloon up to as much as 21 before being trimmed drastically in the final minutes.
