Purdue basketball holds off Wisconsin in overtime for elusive road victory

• Tuesday's game: Rutgers at Purdue, 7 p.m., BTN

MADISON, Wisconsin — It came with all the customary drama, but Purdue basketball finally secured that elusive road victory.

Grady Eifert's free throws with 38.3 seconds left in overtime broke a tie and put the Boilermakers in the lead for good, and they held on for an 84-80 victory over Wisconsin at Kohl Center.

Purdue had lost six consecutive road games away from Mackey Arena. This was their first true road victory.

The Boilermakers won by winning the possession battle. They won on the boards 39-32, with 17 offensive rebounds. They committed only eight turnovers and took 17 from Wisconsin, winning 20-13 on points off turnovers.

Two contenders for Big Ten Conference Player of the Year squared off for perhaps the only time this season.

Purdue seldom had an answer for Wisconsin's Ethan Happ in the teams' previous four meetings over the past three seasons. But the 6-10 senior forward made what could be his final game against the Boilermakers a memorable one.

The senior center collected 31 points on 14 of 17 shooting with 13 rebounds, six assists and eight turnovers. 

Carsen Edwards, however, came through when needed for Purdue. He scored 36 points on 10 of 26 shooting, making 6 of 14 from 3 and 10 of 14 at the line.

With under 50 seconds to play in regulation and the shot clock down to 5 seconds, Edwards hit a 3-pointer to give Purdue a 72-68 lead. Happ grabbed an offensive rebound at the other end, though, and D'Mitrik Trice's 3 cut the Purdue lead to one with 22.6 left.

Edwards hit a pair of free throws at the other end after being fouled on the inbounds. But Wisconsin set a screen to get Nojel Eastern off of Trice, who hit the game-tying 3 that eventually led to overtime, 74-74.

Turning point

When Aleem Ford hit a 3 with 13:47 left, Wisconsin led 50-46 — matching its biggest of the game to that point. The bucket came off Happ's fifth assist, after Purdue brought a double team under the basket.

Ryan Cline answered with a 3, and when Happ scored again, Cline answered that with a 3 as well. Then Edwards lasered one in from the top of the key — the Boilermakers' third straight trip with a 3 — for a 55-52 lead.

Purdue finally separated in one quick sequence. Matt Haarms, playing with four fouls, re-entered the game with under six minutes to play and finished a dive to the basket with a dunk. Grady Eifert came up with a steal under the basket at the other end, and Cline finished the fast break with a 3 for a 67-60 lead.

Freshman first

With Evan Boudreaux out with a groin injury, Freshman center Trevion Williams earned his first career start. The 6-9, 280-pound center was coming off his first career double-double, a 13-point, 12-rebound effort at Michigan State on Tuesday.

Williams had all the problems you might expect a freshman to have while trying to guard Happ for the first time. However, he also enjoyed a couple of highlight moments of his own. He scored on back-to-back first-half possessions — the second involving an ankle-breaker as he drove by Nate Reuvers for a dunk — to fuel an early surge to a 20-10 lead.

Happ, not coincidentally, was on the bench for that stretch.

Williams ended up with the first-half minutes edge on Haarms 13-7 because the latter ran into foul trouble on one play. One trip after lowering his shoulder and scoring through Happ, Haarms was called for an offensive foul for backing Happ out of bounds. He was also hit with a technical for protesting the call.

Williams collected nine points, 11 rebounds (seven offensive) and three assists but made only 1 of 6 free throws. He scored late in the first half to break a 16-1 Wisconsin run, and he and Nojel Eastern combined to lead Purdue's surge back into the lead.

Williams also adjusted defensively as the game went on, adding a block and two steals after halftime.

Free frustration

Purdue's should probably have taken more than a 37-36 cushion into halftime. It made only 2 of 7 free throws, with Eastern completing a go-ahead and-one with 1:26 left for the final attempt of the half.

The Boilermakers entered the game as a 73.1 percent free throw shooting team. In the second half they recovered somewhat to make 15 of 23.

Purdue did, however, enjoy some regression to the mean at the opposite line. Opponents had shot 76.9 percent for the season coming in — the fourth-highest percentage "allowed" in Division I this season. Wisconsin shot 57.9 percent.

Contact Journal & Courier Purdue men's basketball insider Nathan Baird at nbaird@jconline.com or 765-420-5234. Follow on Twitter: @nbairdjc

PURDUE 84, WISCONSIN 80 (OT)

PURDUE (10-6) — Eifert 3-4 2-2 9, Williams 4-11 1-6 9, Eastern 4-8 2-3 10, Edwards 10-26 10-14 36, Cline 4-9 2-4 14, Haarms 2-3 0-0 4, Wheeler 1-2 0-0 2, Hunter 0-2 0-0 0, Stefanovic 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 28-66 17-30 84.

WISCONSIN (11-5) — Reuvers 2-4 0-0 5, Happ 14-17 3-6 31, Trice 4-14 5-7 17, Davison 5-8 0-2 13, Iverson 3-7 1-2 7, Ford 1-3 2-2 5, Pritzl 1-2 0-0 2, Ko.King 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-56 11-19 80.

Halftime—Purdue 37-36. End Of Regulation—Tied 74. 3-Point Goals—Purdue 11-25 (Edwards 6-14, Cline 4-7, Eifert 1-2, Hunter 0-1, Wheeler 0-1), Wisconsin 9-16 (Trice 4-7, Davison 3-3, Reuvers 1-2, Ford 1-3, Pritzl 0-1). Fouled Out—Iverson. Rebounds—Purdue 37 (Williams 11), Wisconsin 28 (Happ 13). Assists—Purdue 12 (Wheeler, Williams 3), Wisconsin 13 (Happ 6). Total Fouls—Purdue 19, Wisconsin 22. Technicals—Haarms. A—171,787 (17,230).