Zach Edey canned his first nine shots on his way to a career-high 30 points to spark Purdue to a 63-44 victory over Austin Peay in nonconference play Friday night in West Lafayette, Ind.

The 7-foot-4 third-year center finished 12 of 13 from the field with a game-high 11 rebounds as the Boilermakers (2-0) controlled the game despite missing their first 16 3-point attempts. No other Purdue player scored more than five points.

Sophomore center Elijah Hutchins-Everett paced Austin Peay (0-2) with 19 points and seven rebounds while Shon Robinson added 11 points. The Governors shot just 28.3 percent from the field and got outrebounded 42-22.

Purdue pounded the ball inside to Edey from the outset. He scored in the paint on the Boilers’ first two possessions and produced four baskets in the first five-plus minutes as Austin Peay stuck with a man-to-man defense and occasional help in the post.

Meanwhile, Hutchins-Everett scored Austin Peay’s first 10 points to keep the patient Governors — who lost their opener by 49 points at North Carolina State — within striking distance. No other Governor scored until Robinson’s breakaway jam cut Purdue’s lead to 16-12 with 9:00 left in the first half.

Then the Boilermakers held the Governors scoreless for nearly seven minutes to take a 31-16 halftime lead. The teams headed to the locker room shooting a combined 1 of 24 from 3-point range.

Edey pushed Purdue’s lead to 35-18 with 18:32 to go when he slammed home his own miss, but Austin Peay sliced the deficit to 36-26 on 3-pointers by Cameron Copeland and Hutchins-Everett and a slashing layup by Sean Durugordon.

The Governors never found a way to cut the margin to single digits, though. Purdue finally sank its first 3-pointer when sixth-year senior David Jenkins Jr. hit from the corner with 7:44 left in the second half to move the lead to 47-32.

Purdue finished 2 of 19 on 3-pointers while Austin Peay canned 4 of 24.

–Field Level Media