[5] Purdue 80, Ohio State 66 (Postgame Notes)
• No. 5-ranked and top-seeded Purdue advanced to the Big Ten Championship game with an 80-66 win over Ohio State on Saturday at the United Center in Chicago.
• Purdue swept the season series with Ohio State, winning all three games by a combined 43 points. Purdue’s 14-point victory was its largest in the Big Ten Tournament since beating Michigan 76-59 in the 2016 semifinals.
• The Boilermakers advanced to the Championship game for the second straight season and the fourth time in the last seven tournaments (2016, 2018, 2022, 2023). Purdue is looking for its first Big Ten Tournament title since 2009, making its sixth Big Ten Championship game appearance.
• Purdue is the first Big Ten program to advance to consecutive Big Ten Tournament title games since Michigan (three straight) during the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.
• Purdue’s 80 points were its most in a Big Ten Tournament since the 2018 quarterfinals against Rutgers (82-75 win).
• After entering the tournament making just 29-of-111 (.261) from 3-point range in last six games, Purdue has made 14-of-35 (.400) from long distance in the Big Ten Tournament.
• The win was Purdue’s 16th against a KenPom top-50 opponent, the most top-50 wins in the country.
• Purdue’s three-game season sweep is the Boilermakers’ first three-game sweep since winning all three against Rutgers in the 2017-18 season. It marks just the second time in school history with a three-game sweep (1997-98 vs. Illinois; 3-0).
• After starting his career 5-15 against Ohio State, Matt Painter is now 11-4 in his last 15 games against the Buckeyes.
• Purdue is now 57-13 overall since the start of last season, tied for the most victories in a two-year span in school history (57 in the 2017, 2018 seasons).
• Zach Edey scored 32 points with 14 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal in the victory. Edey had 15 points and 13 rebounds in the second half.
• It marked Edey’s seventh 30-10 game of the season, tied for the most by a major-college player in the last 20 years (Duke’s Marvin Bagley in 2017-18; Texas’ Kevin Durant in 2006-07).
• Edey became just the fourth player in the last 30 years to have at least 700 points, 400 rebounds, 50 blocks and 40 assists in a season (Arizona’s DeAndre Ayton in 2017-18; Utah’s Andrew Bogut in 2004-05; Kansas’ Drew Gooden in 2001-02).
• Edey’s 37 career double-doubles moved him into third on the Purdue career list (Terry Dischinger – 54; Joe Barry Carroll – 53). He has 25 this season, second in school history (Caleb Swanigan in 2017; 28).
• Braden Smith had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal in the win, going 5-of-5 from the field, 2-of-2 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. His 14 points.
• Smith became the fourth freshman in Big Ten history to accumulate 330 points, 140 rebounds and 140 assists in a single season (Michigan State’s Magic Johnson in 1978; Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell in 2015; Ohio State’s JaQuan Lyle in 2016).