Pur-two

How I love conference tournaments. Even on a night where we get a classic Big Ten game, there are buzzer beaters and massive upsets in autobid leagues.

Let's dive in.

1. Zach Edey does Zach Edey things

Champaign was buzzing. Illinois was leading on Senior Night. All they needed to clinch a share of the Big Ten title was 20 more good minutes.

But Zach Edey and Purdue? They’re inevitable.

Zach Edey scored 28 points and had eight rebounds as the No. 3 Boilermakers rallied past No. 12 Illinois, 77-71, and clinched the outright league title, the first to do so in the Big Ten since Ohio State in 2006 and 2007.

It wasn’t just Edey, either. That’s what makes this Purdue team (27-3, 16-3) different from last season.

Fletcher Loyer scored 16 points, Mason Gillis did a little of everything (10 points, six rebounds, four assists, two 3's), and Braden Smith was great with 13 points and six assists. His 3-pointer with 18 seconds left was the dagger.

Also, let’s take a minute to appreciate Edey.

He went 13-of-23 and kept Purdue in the game in the first half. He’s scored at least 20 points 21 times this season and is about to win his second consecutive National Player of the Year award. There was a minor Twitter debate circulating Tuesday about how men’s college basketball lacks star power. Ignore that. If you don’t like Shaq Edey, that’s your problem.

It was a tough night for Illinois (22-8, 13-6) on offense, particularly from Terrence Shannon Jr. (11 points, 3-of-13 shooting.) It was the first time it didn’t break 80 points in nine games, but the defense did finally have moments where it didn’t look lost. Silver lining? Illinois only losing by six against Purdue in Shannon's worst game in months isn't terrible. Marcus Domask had 20 points, but the Illini shot only 4-of-15 from downtown.

Expect to hear people wondering if Purdue can avoid an early exit from the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers are a lock for a No. 1 seed. And they’re ready for it.

"The loss we had, we had never been a one seed since I've been the coach. And you fight to be a one-seed and get beat by a 16-seed. I don't even like talking about it because they beat us straight up,” coach Matt Painter said. “Sitting in that for 6-7 months, we wanted to fight to get in that same place, and it looks like we'll be there come tournament time."

2. How Tuesday’s games affected the bubble

The NCAA Tournament picture cleared up a bit on Tuesday. Or at least it seems that way after a couple notable losses.

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