How Wisconsin's inability to hit the boards proved costly in Big Ten showdown vs. Purdue.

MADISON – In Purdue, the Wisconsin men’s basketball team faced its highest ranked opponent of the season and for much of Sunday afternoon it was an uphill battle

The Badgers trailed for more 30 minutes during their 75-69 loss in front of a sellout crowd of 17,071 at the Kohl Center.

There was hope, however. UW cut what was a 10-point lead to two on a putback by Tyler Wahl with 4 minutes 46 seconds left.

The Badgers were in position to seize the moment, but they couldn’t grab the rebound. Purdue’s next two possessions ended with buckets that were second-chance points.

It was the beginning of the end for Wisconsin in a painfully fitting way.

The Badgers lost the battle of the boards by 13. Purdue’s 14 offensive rebounds tied the most Wisconsin has allowed this season and the Boilermakers’ 21 second-chance points beat the previous high for a Badgers opponent by eight.

“We just didn’t match the physicality or check them as much as we needed to today,” Wahl said.

Purdue and Wisconsin are ranked first and third, respectively, in the Big Ten when it comes to rebounding margin, but the Boilermakers are really in a class by themselves with a plus-11.7 margin.

What made their work on the boards so effective was that 85.7% of those offensive rebounds (12 of 14) led to points.

Zach Edey, Purdue’s 7-foot-4 center, finished with a game-high 13 rebounds, six off the offensive glass. Three of 6-6 senior Mason Gillis’ six rebounds were offensive.

Edey benefited most from those second chances. Nine of his 18 points came after an offensive rebound.

Wisconsin almost shot 50% in the first half while holding Purdue to 42.9%, but the Badgers inability to finish defensive possessions with a rebound was a key reason they trailed, 34-32, at the break.

The Boilermakers had 13 second-chance points at that point in the game.

“They got a bunch of offensive rebounds and that led to a bunch of fouls or points or a whole lot of bad things,” Wahl said. “But you’ve got to give them credit. They’re physical. They crash the glass on every free throw. Every shot they’ve got certain guys coming in there."

After Wahl’s putback of his three-point miss made it a two-point game with just under 5 minutes to go, Edey went to the free throw line and missed the front end of a bonus, but Gillis was there for the rebound and 8 seconds later Lance Jones’ layup gave Purdue a four-point edge.

The Boilermakers' next possession Gillis missed a three, Wisconsin couldn’t gather the rebound and Edey’s jump hook made it a 63-57 game with 3:40 to go.

Wisconsin pulled no closer than five points the rest of the afternoon.

“Keeping them off the glass is hard to do,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “Some of it hit Zach. Some of it was us not doing our job blocking out. And those couple of possessions, those can be big as you come down the stretch.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How Wisconsin's inability to hit the boards proved costly vs. Purdue