A BLISTERING offensive performance from Zach Edey has led the number-one seeded Purdue Boilermakers to a commanding victory over the Michigan State Spartans to maintain their place at the top.

The Boilermakers claimed a 16-point triumph over the Spartans on Sunday night, and moved to a powerful record of 21 wins and one loss. On the other hand, the Spartans slumped down to 14-8 on the season, and eventually fell to a superior side.

The standout of the match was clearly Edey, who starred with ball in hand and top-scored with a game-high 38 points, as he continues to push his case as a first round pick in the NBA Draft in the near future.

Michigan State Spartans (61) def. by Purdue Boilermakers (77)

Zach Edey – 38 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, three steals

Edey produced one of the most dominant individual performances of the NCAA season against the Spartans, furthering his claims as one of the season’s strongest players and is a big reason why the Boilermakers are the side to beat.

In the win over Michigan State, the big man was an immense presence in the paint, and thrived being the focal point of the team’s offence. With a post-centric style of play, Purdue looked to get the ball into Edey as much as possible, given the offensive arsenal he possesses.

Accuracy was no problem for Edey, who nailed 15 of his 24 attempts from the field. Remarkably, the team only took 58 shots as a whole, so he excelled with the added responsibility. Despite the opposition defence sending majority of their players into the paint to cut off Edey, he still managed to pull out a number of post moves to evade the contest and drain the shot.

As expected, he spent a fair bit of time at the free throw line after drawing plenty of contact in the paint, and made the opposition pay by going 8/12 from the charity stripe.

Of his 13 rebounds, eight were offensive, which also explains a lot of his scoring opportunities. After pulling down an offensive board (sometimes off his own misses), the big man showed no hesitation going for the put back, and often got the best looks after reading the ball off the rim better than anyone else.

Edey was one of two Boilermakers to hit double digits, and the team’s only scorer above 11 points, so it was an old-school one man show. He put the team on his back and led them to victory with a mammoth double-double.