Defense: B
Wisconsin led by as much as 13 points in the second half at 51-38 with 10:16 to play in the game.
But with Wisconsin struggling to find the bottom of the net it allowed for Purdue to make a comeback and cut the lead to as little two points four different times over the last one minute and 41 seconds of game time.
Purdue over the last 10 minutes of the game went 11-for-20 from the field to cut into Wisconsin’s lead. Five different players for Purdue combined to score the final 27 points for the Boilermakers as Nojel Eastern led the way with seven points. Sasha Stefanovic and Isaiah Thompson each contributed six points over Purdue’s final run as they tried to complete the comeback as the two combined to make four key 3-pointers.
Trevion Williams led Purdue in scoring with 17 points off the bench as he shot 8-for-16 from the field and registered a team-high 12 rebounds. Eastern was second with 14 points as he made half of his 12 field goal attempts and Stefanovic had 11 points on 3-for-7 shooting from the field. Overall Purdue shot 39.7 percent from the field on 25-for-63 shooting from the field.
In the first matchup against Purdue, the Boilermakers registered an impressive 16 offensive rebounds resulting in 19 second chance points. Against Purdue, on Tuesday night the numbers didn’t change much as the Boilermakers registered 15 offensive rebounds, which they turned into 19 points. Despite Purdue having success in this area, the Badgers did put up more of a fight.
Outside of allowing 15 offensive rebounds the Boilermakers were also able to have success around the rim finishing the game with 34 points in the paint. It was the second game in a row where the Badgers allowed 34 points in the paint.
Purdue was able to drive the basketball at times against Wisconsin’s defense in order to generate a high percentage shot or Williams was able to utilize one of his post moves against Reuvers to get a shot off.
Wisconsin over their previous two games had done well of challenging shots without fouling but the Badgers couldn’t replicate that performance as the Badgers only had three blocks as Reuvers registered two of the three.