See that Purdue dude in the picture above? He is wiiiiiiide open. Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry had a better chance of guarding him than any of his defenders, who weren't in the same zip code.
It was kind of like that all night, as the No. 1 Boilermakers lit up the Penn State defense for 14 3-pointers in an 80-60 thumping at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind.
Here are my three main takeaways from the game:
1. Purdue is really good, and a terrible matchup for Penn State
The Boilermakers are a difficult matchup for just about everyone, with 7-foot-4 big man Zach Edey capable of dominating anybody in the paint. Just look at the picture above, as three Penn State defenders are around Edey, because when that kind of thing happens, it's gonna leave shooters wide open.
Purdue hit 14 of 31 from 3-point land (45 percent) and shot 51 percent overall on its way to the easy victory.
Penn State outscored Purdue 37-31 in the first half of the first meeting at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Boilermakers outscored the Lions by 19 in the second half of that one for a 76-63 win, then cruised to the 20-point victory Wednesday.
In the last three halves, therefore, Purdue has outscored Penn State by 39 points.
Edey did most of the damage in the first game with 30 points, hitting 14 of 21 field goals. Penn State's game plan this time around was to try and slow him down, and he took only nine shots. But he hit seven of them and still finished with 18 points, to go along with 13 rebounds.
The problem, though, is that when you focus that much on Edey, it gives Purdue's shooters a lot of space on the perimeter. And if they're hitting, they're going to crush you.
They were hitting Wednesday night.
Mason Gillis was out of his mind, knocking down 9 of 12 3-pointers and finishing with 29 points off the bench. This is what kind of night Gillis had:
✅ Mason Gillis' 29 points tonight for Purdue were the most points off the bench by a major conference player this season.
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) February 2, 2023
✅ His 9 3-pointers are the 2nd most in school history and tied for the most by ANYONE in Mackey Arena history — most by a Purdue player.
H/T @ESPNStatsInfo pic.twitter.com/a3TVl6QuAG
2. Penn State's offense wasn't close to good enough
If Penn State is going to give up the kind of looks it did on defense, then the offense has to respond with a huge shooting performance to keep things close.
That didn't happen.
The Lions made 11 3-pointers, but in 29 attempts (38 percent). That's decent, but not when you're giving up 14 3s on the other end.
Penn State also finished with a measly 19 rebounds, while Purdue had 38. To only have 19 rebounds in a game against any team is, well, incredible.
Seth Lundy led Penn State with 18 points, while Jalen Pickett had 12 and Michael Henn 11.
3. Bubble status
Nobody expected Penn State to win this game. It just wasn't gonna happen on the road against the No. 1 team in the country.
So, this was in no way a bad loss for the Lions.
It was a loss, however, that probably knocks them back on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble for the time being. Joe Lunardi said as much in his daily bracketology update below.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 1, 2023
The Lions are now 5-6 in the Big Ten and 14-8 overall. They've still got to get to 10-10 in the league.
Here's the remaining schedule. See if you can come up with five more wins.
• at Nebraska
• vs. Wisconsin
• at Maryland
• vs. Illinois
• at Minnesota
• at Ohio State
• vs. Rutgers
• at Northwestern
• vs. Maryland
Penn State MUST win at Nebraska. There's no way they can afford a loss there. Then they've got to beat Wisconsin at home. So, these next two games provide an opportunity to get back above .500 in the league, which likely puts them back on the right side of the bubble.