Maryland men’s basketball (17-8, 8-6 Big Ten) almost pulled off the upset against No. 3 Purdue (23-3, 12-3 Big Ten) in West Lafayette in late January, but ended up losing by three. Now, just a few weeks later, the Terps have another chance to take down the Boilermakers at the Xfinity Center Thursday night.
Coach Kevin Willard’s team is coming into the rematch off the back of some of their best form all season. Since the Purdue game, Maryland has won five out of its last six games, four of which were at home. The Terps are undefeated in conference play this season.
Purdue enters having just lost its No. 1 status in the AP poll following two losses in its last three games. The Boilermakers first fell to No. 14 Indiana 79-74, a team that Maryland beat 66-55 just over two weeks ago. Most recently, Purdue lost to Northwestern 64-58, with both of these defeats coming on the road.
In the first matchup between the schools, it was a battle in the trenches with both teams making a combined five three pointers on 34 attempts. Early on it was Purdue’s game to win, going up by as much as 16 points in the first half and leading at halftime by 14.
It took the Terps a while to set up the defense but ended up springing a comeback in the second half, getting within three points of the Boilermakers. However, Maryland needed a three to tie the game with under a minute to go, and the Terps’ three-point struggles continued. Senior guard Don Carey missed a wide open corner three with ten seconds left before graduate student guard Jahmir Young missed at the buzzer, and the Terps lost 58-55.
The big reason that Purdue was able to hold on in the second half was the dominant performance of junior center Zach Edey. He went to work on an undersized Maryland frontcourt, putting up 24 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks in the win. The 7-foot-4 center controlled the boards, out offensive-rebounding the entire Maryland team by himself, 7-6.
“I look at draft boards, and he’s like second round [projected],” Willard said. “[If] I was a GM in the NBA and I had a first round draft pick I’d put that young man on my roster because he is getting better and better.”
It may not be possible for Willard to neutralize him defensively this time, as there’s only so much you can do to stop a player currently averaging the fifth-most points (22.2) and second most-rebounds per game (13) in the country. The Maryland defense was able to make the Boilermakers offense a bit sloppy in the first meeting, forcing 15 turnovers, something it hopes to do again.
While Edey was a force in the paint offensively, sophomore forward Julian Reese gave him a good amount of trouble on the defensive end. Reese finished with 19 points on 8-11 shooting, a lot of times getting buckets by going right into the chest of Edey. It won’t be surprising if he continues to go right at the Purdue center again on Thursday.
Purdue’s defense played well against the guards, as Young wasn’t a factor on offense. The Terps’ leading scorer, averaging 16.2 points per game this season, only managed to score 10 and shot 4-18 from the field. It was an off day for the leader of the offense, as he shot 0-6 from the outside.
It’s not just Edey that’s impactful on the boards, as sophomore forward Caleb Furst averages 5.3 rebounds per game. The Boilermakers have the best rebound margin in the country, and Willard talked about just how tough it is to go up against them on the boards.
“When you talk about trying to get an easy offensive rebound or a put back, it usually doesn’t happen against them because of their size and physicality,” Willard said.
Maryland hasn’t beat a ranked Purdue team since 2021, when the Terps beat the No. 24 Boilermakers 61-60.
Tip-off is set at 6:30 p.m.
