No. 2 Purdue bounce back in 2nd half, tops Minnesota

Field Level Media|published: Thu 15th February, 23:06 2024

Purdue Boilermakers guard Lance Jones (55) and Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey (15) celebrate during the NCAA men s basketball game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. credits: Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK

On a night when both teams blew double-figure leads, No. 2 Purdue rallied from a 10-point, second-half deficit Thursday night to stop Minnesota 84-76 in West Lafayette, Ind.

Zach Edey led the Boilermakers (23-2, 12-2 Big Ten) with 24 points and 15 rebounds despite playing just 29 minutes due to foul trouble. Braden Smith added 16 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while Mason Gillis came off the bench for 14 points for Purdue, which won its ninth game in a row.

Purdue's Lance Jones contributed 12 points.

Dawson Garcia paced the Golden Gophers (15-9, 6-7) with 24 points, while Mike Mitchell added 14 and Cam Christie hit for 13 points. Minnesota, which took its second consecutive loss, hit 9 of 16 3-point attempts in the first half but cooled off after the break, making just 3 of 9.

The Gophers led 45-35 after Christie fed Pharrel Payne for a layup on the first possession of the second half. But Purdue ripped off a 28-10 spurt, taking the lead for good when Edey dunked off a Ethan Morton feed with 12:27 left.

The Gophers drew within 73-71 when Elijah Hawkins sank two foul shots with 4:16 remaining, but Edey made a jump hook and a free throw, and Gillis followed by hitting a 3-pointer with 2:17 on the clock to wrap it up.

On paper, Purdue seemed likely to roll Minnesota and the game's first four-plus minutes did nothing to dissuade that notion. The Boilermakers stung the Gophers inside and out, taking a 16-5 lead when Jones drilled a 3-pointer.

The half's remainder was all Minnesota, which caught a break when Edey found foul trouble. He drew his second foul at the 13:36 mark and was relatively ineffective when he returned after a long break. The Gophers took advantage behind the 3-point arc.

Christie's 3-pointer at the 6:06 mark kicked off a 21-5 run that ended the half. Minnesota ripped off 13 straight points to begin the surge and went into the break with a stunning 43-35 lead after Jack Wilson converted a layup with 55 seconds remaining.

—Field Level Media