UConn let Edey get his points, and nobody else. They smothered Purdue on the outside.
It's kinda how Wisconsin managed to beat Purdue.
Badge, with all due respect to the Badgers, I don't think Purdue particularly cared if they won that BTT game. You could see it in their effort level. They didn't chase loose balls, they were a little lax on boxing out, they just looked disinterested.
The result of that game meant diddly squat with regards to their tournament seeding, and they knew it. For the past 12 months EVERY. SINGLE. ARTICLE. that talked about Purdue would contain the line "Purdue, coming off of an embarrassing loss as a 1 seed to 16th seeded FDU.....".
In addition, Smith was nursing a light leg injury and Edey was a little banged up as well. They had just won the Big Ten by 3 games (again). The only thing that would be gained by winning the BTT would be more potential for injury and extra tired legs. All they wanted to do at that point was go home, rest up for a few days, and go into the tournament fresh so that they could finally put the stupid FDU crap to rest. (Mission accomplished!)
You are right in that UConn let Edey get his and clamped down on the rest, but what UConn did last night doesn't even remotely compare to what Wisconsin did. In that BTT game, Edey took 11 shots and the rest of the team took 40 shots. Last night, Edey took 25 shots and the rest of the team took 29 (with Smith being 12 of those). They just completely shut down Loyer, Jones, and Gillis. Those three had 27 points against Wisconsin. Against UConn, they managed 5 points.
I am actually extremely surprised in particular about Jones. Jones had a green light from Painter to shoot whenever he wanted, and Jones had no compunction as to letting it fly early and often (more often than not before the offense was set for a rebound). Last night Jones took one three point attempt and two 2-pointers. I don't know if the defense was just that good or if he was just scared. Either way, it's one of the big reasons we lost.
