Poison Ivey: Purdue’s Top Player Showcases His Lottery Pick Status in Blowout Win Over Illini
By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer
February 9, 2022
(Cover photo courtesy Yahoo Sports)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The final scoreboard at Mackey Arena did say otherwise but Purdue essentially left its home arena with a 1-0 victory.
On Tuesday night, Purdue had one future lottery pick in the upcoming National Basketball Association draft in Jaden Ivey and Illinois didn’t. And the Illini didn’t have an individual or collective way to defensively contain arguably the best athlete in the Big Ten Conference on his way to a game-high 26 points in a 84-68 victory over Illinois.
“That’s what they look like. For anybody who doesn’t know what a pro looks like, that’s what a professional basketball player looks like,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said. “It’s nice when you have them and you can capitalize on having them. In my opinion, he’s a different level athletically than anybody we’ve seen.”