Biggest man Zach Edey steals show as No. 1 Purdue beats Penn State at Palestra

The Palestra got as loud as the Palestra gets. The temperature inside Sunday night rose as fast as it was dropping outside. Penn State told its people to wear white, and although you can’t fit more than 100,000 inside on 33rd Street like they do out at Beaver Stadium, it sounded almost as loud as a standard “White Out” football extravaganza, with top-ranked Purdue in to face the Nittany Lions.

That atmosphere was full-frenzied for a half anyway, thanks to a clean Penn State shooting display.

This one will be remembered, however, as the time the largest difference-maker in college hoops strolled into Philly and stole the Big Ten show. Zach Edey, a mere 7-foot-4, was way too much for Penn State to handle in the paint, scoring 30 points, with 13 rebounds and 3 blocks, the Boilermakers winning, 76-63.

“They’re No. 1 for a reason,” said Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry. “Zach is such a difference-maker. You don’t see anything like him in college basketball, in basketball period. He just asserts himself on the game. The other guys do a great job of doing things around him.”

“This is big-time, man,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “This is cool. I’ve only seen it on TV ... I’m glad we did it, and I’m glad we played well.”

Right away, both teams began playing to their strengths, which means the Boilermakers (15-1, 4-1 Big Ten) got it to Edey, establishing position in the paint, taking his little baby hooks, making most.

Having little interest in challenging Edey at the other end, Penn State (11-5, 2-3) took a while to start knocking down jumpers. Then Nittany Lions point guard Jalen Pickett showed before halftime why he is the straw that stirs this year’s group.

By halftime, Pickett had 18 points, the last at the buzzer. His highlight had been a three-pointer Pickett actually arced from in front of Purdue’s bench, over Edey, who fouled him in the process. A four-point play Pickett won’t forget. Pickett had 26 for the night.

Penn State’s 37-31 halftime lead was earned with the Nittany Lions committing just two first-half turnovers, with Roman Catholic graduate Seth Lundy joining Pickett in double figures by halftime, with Archbishop Wood graduate Andrew Funk making his first three-pointer for Penn State’s first lead of the night.

Right after halftime, Purdue grabbed control back, scoring inside and out. Penn State got decent looks but wasn’t hitting them, as the Boilermakers scored the first dozen points of the half. Edey was getting almost half of Purdue’s shots, and just shy of half the points, up to 28 (on 13 of 19 shooting) when Purdue took a 56-44 lead with 11 minutes left.

Not just because Edey is 7-4. (Sure, that’s enough.) Shrewsberry was a Purdue assistant when Edey first got there.

“He’s big, but he’s nasty,” Shrewsberry said. “He doesn’t mind contact. He actually likes contact.”

Another thing, Shrewsberry said, Edey likes the game, making the point that some really big men play because they’re really big. Edey was the type to finish practice, do all the post-practice workouts everyone did, then shower, go eat dinner … and come back to watch film of practice.

“This dude loves the game,” Shrewsberry said.

Both teams combined for just 10 foul shots. Penn State got three of them. Safe to say Shrewsberry noticed, picking up a second-half technical. Safe to say, the Big Ten office will notice his post-game comments.

“This isn’t a one-time thing,” Shrewsberry said. “This is an every-time kind of thing. It was a really physical game. The game didn’t warrant 10 free throws. If we want to be the best league in the country, we need our officials to be the best officials in the country.”

Shrewsberry added the obvious, “I get frustrated, man. Call a foul if you see a foul.”

He made another point, that as a second-year coach, he knows he’s still in the earning-respect phase of his tenure. But he’s also saying, there are minimum levels he’s earned. “I can’t have a ref not knowing my name at Michigan,” Shrewsberry said.

He added that Purdue kicked their butt ... nothing to do with that. They got fouled, too. But in a different place.

“We play so different than the other teams in the league, so the fouls I’m asking for are different,” Shrewsberry said. “I’m asking for fouls on the perimeter. We cut, we move. If you put your hands on us, you slow us down, you take away what we want to do.”

Shrewsberry added that these are good officials.

“I don’t know, I’m frustrated,” he reiterated. “Because it’s not today. It’s every day. It’s not OK, unless you want us to lose.”

We’ve said this before: When you come to the Palestra, cut the canned blistering pregame music. Your fans can take care of the noise. (They really did, as soon as the game began. Best atmosphere in here all year.) In this building, nobody can talk to the person next to them if the amped-up PA stuff goes up too loud. If you want a Palestra experience, make it a true Palestra experience. (Now get off my lawn.)