HARTFORD — The Co-Big Ten Champs Purdue Boilermakers wet the bed last week in the conference tournament against Minnesota and it was a hard pill to swallow. So when they showed up in Hartford they understood that regardless of who they were playing they had to be on point. Well…they had to win or go home. They blasted Old Dominion 61-48 behind the volume shooting of Carsen Edwards who finished with 26 points.
Edwards has been struggling shooting the ball but the Boilermakers didn’t care about his efficiency. They just needed the dun to score the basketball. He finished the night shooting 7-23 from the field, 4-12 from behind the arc and he was brilliant from the foul line shooting 8-9. It doesn’t matter how many times you shoot it as long as it goes in enough times to win the darn game.
The only other player in double figures for Matt Painter’s squad was Matt Haarms who finished with 13 points. It was definitely enough for Purdue to get out of the first round and back to the hotel to chill. Most of the higher seeds struggled with lower seeds on Thursday and nobody wants to deal with that type of foolishness.
If you’re wrestling with a 13th, 14th or 15th seed right out of the gate it’s a problem regardless of you winning the game. The next game becomes a trap because your head isn’t right. Your confidence is blown.
Defensively, the Boilermakers held it down keeping the Monarchs from being able to get open looks etc. They held ODU to shooting only 27 percent from the field and 24 percent from behind the arc. They’re going to need that on Saturday when the defending national champs the Villanova Wildcats come calling.
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.