With Kansas Stumbling Out, Can Purdue Maintain Number 1 NCAA Status?

The Purdue Boilermakers stunned all when they trumped the Marquette Golden Eagles in the Finals of the Maui Invitational. Though the Kansas Jayhawks was the number one ranked team entering the Maui, the Purdue turned the tides in their favor by winning all three games consecutively. 

The Kansas on the other hand emerged victorious in two of the three games, losing the semi-finals to the Golden Eagles. With this win, the Purdue caused a lot of chaos in the AP polls and rankings in NCAA.

Purdue, The Zenith

The Purdue decimated the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the Tennessee Volunteers and the Marquette. Their center Zach Edey became the talk of the town, earning the Most Valuable Player honor.

Though, the Marquette’s guard Cam Jones and Tyler Kolek gave their best still they fell short from stopping the Purdue. Jones potted a respectable 17 points whereas Kolek smashed 22 points. But they couldn’t lift their team to triumph as Edey smoked a game high of 28 points, averaging a double-double by grabbing 15 rebounds. 

Edey averages a whopping 23 points with an astounding 11.5 rebounds per match and 2.8 blocks per contest. This is quite similar to how he had performed last season. His consistency is something the Purdue have banked on.

Last season, Edey averaged 22.3 points with a spectacular 12.9 rebounds per match and 2.1 blocks per game. Edey has therefore is picking up right where he had left last season. Other than Edey, the Boilermakers’  guards Lance Jones and Braden Smith are players to watch out for.

Jones averages a decent 9.5 points with 2.5 rebounds per match and the same number of assists this season. Smith on the other hand averages a respectable 12 points with 5.3 rebounds per match and 6.2 assists per contest. Jones had also potted a crucial 18-footer just when the buzzer rang prior to the half time.

The Purdue will continue to upend teams in the future unless the height becomes an issue. Jones is only 1.85 meters whereas Smith is 1.83 meters. However, their height gap is filled by Edey who is 2.24 meters. The Purdue would have been in trouble if they would have been an NBA team, but with this height they are sure of making waves in the college basketball circuit.

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They rank in top 5 in defence, top 2 in offense and their guards also look improved. Their head coach Matthew Painter will have to pair them in such a form that the lower height is supplemented by other tall players.

They will face the Alabama and the Arizona later in non-conference rounds which will give a better perspective on their gameplay.

Kansas, The Nadir

Meanwhile, the Kansas didn’t particularly enjoy their outing. They came into the tournament as the number-one ranked team. But they showed their brilliance in bits and pieces. The Kansas clobbered up the Chaminade in the first game of the tournament by a blowout margin of 73-63.

They outwitted the Silverswords in both halves. Their center Hunter Dickinson and guard Kevin McCullar Jr. smoked 31 and 22 points. The Jayhawks thus convincingly won the match.

It was their next encounter against the Golden Eagles that left them disappointed. They suffered a humiliating defeat of 59-73 at the hands of the Marquette.  Though, McCullar delivered another special performance of 24 points, it was Dickinson who faltered at the big stage. He could only pot 13 points. With minimal support from the rest of the team, McCullar was left disappointed.

Their last game of the Maui Invitational happened against the Volunteers. Though, they saved their grace by managing 69 points in response to the Tennessee’s 60, the game was only a complimentary victory since the Jayhawks had entered the tournament as favorites. With this win, they were placed at the third spot in the Maui Invitational.

The Chaos in Ranks

The Purdue only had five first place votes in the last week’s AP Poll. Now that they have clinched their first Maui title, they should get all the 61 votes from the AP Poll. 

Barring the three voters who had supported the Arizona Wildcats and the one who endorsed the University of Connecticut Huskies, the remaining 53 voters who stood with the Kansas Jayhawks should now flip to Purdue in the next week’s AP Polls.

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Thus, Purdue should get 55 to 60 votes on Monday. If this happens then the Purdue will occupy the number one spot for the third consecutive season, a place they hadn’t reached before the last two seasons.