Purdue 73, Maryland 72: What Are You Doing Big Man?

That.

That was unnerving.

The Purdue Boilermakers when on the road at Maryland 73-72 after trailing most the game when true freshman Carsen Edwards drew a foul with 2 seconds left in the game and knocked down both.

Then, things got weird. Isaac Haas went 3 of 10 for just 9 points, but it will be two major mental lapses that nearly cost the Boilers the game. First, Haas, in a close, down to the wire game, was called for a technical foul giving Melo Trimble 2 of his 15 free throw attempts. Then, after Carsen’s two free throws put Purdue up 1 with 2 seconds left, Haas caught a full court heave on the inbound. Instead of standing there for two seconds, he started to walk with the ball. A travel was called and Maryland had .5 seconds to get a shot off.

Fortunately, for Haas and all of us here, they were unable to get a shot off on the inbound.

Maryland played better than Purdue most the game. The Boilers struggled early to knock down open looks, and forced the issue on the inside. Again, big men turnovers was an issue. Swanigan and Haas each ended with 3 turnovers, but after a sloppy first half, the Boilers held to just 4 turnovers in the second half. A total of 11 giveaways for the entire game.

Haas was only in the game late because Biggie fouled out in the last minute of action, after turning a struggling start into a dominate finish. He hit two huge second half 3 pointers and left the game with another double-double to extend his NCAA lead. He finished with a game-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds.

Dakota Mathias continues to be the do everything guard filling up the state sheet, scoring 12, dishing 6 assists, and grabbing four boards. He made 4 of his just 6 shots from the floor, including two 3-pointers.

Ryan Cline started Purdue’s second half comeback with a corner 3 to cut a 12 point lead to 9, and added his second three a few minutes later.

The Maryland offense consisted of Melo Trimble getting to the line. He scored 22 points, 14 of them coming from his 15 free throw attempts. The story of most the game was Maryland’s ability to protect the rim and provide Purdue’s big men with their biggest challenge of the year. Michal Cekovsky came off the bench to block 6 shots, while Damonte Dodd blocked 4.

But in the end, it came down to a true freshman. With six seconds left and down 1, the Boiler guard Carsen “The Truth” Edwards attacked the basket right and drew a foul and was set up for two free throws. The Boilermakers had not beat a ranked team on the road since March... of 2013.

Then he sank the first. Turgeon called a timeout.

And the true freshman sank the second.

Carsen Edwards is something of a change-up to the cliche of what a Purdue guard normally is.

In fitting fashion, he made the end of this one not match up with what we’re used to out of the Boilers either.