No. 2 Purdue powers through in 2nd half to down No. 11 Gonzaga in Maui

HONOLULU (AP) — Zach Edey scored 15 of his game-high 25 points in the first half and No. 2 Purdue rallied to a beat No. 11 Gonzaga 73-63 in a Maui Invitational quarterfinal game on Monday.

The Boilermakers (4-0) trailed by as many as nine points late in the first half, but outscored the Bulldogs (2-1) 43-28 in the second half to remain unbeaten.

Edey, a 7-foot-4 senior center, shot 8 for 16 from the field and made 9 of 10 shots from the free throw line. He also grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked three shots in 33 minutes.

Lance Jones and Braden Smith added 13 points apiece for Purdue, which shot 54.5% from the field (18 of 33) in the second half.

Graham Ike led Gonzaga with 14 points and seven rebounds. Ryan Nembhard had 11 points, six assists and three steals, and Nolan Hickman added 11 points and three steals.

The Bulldogs were 26-for-69 shooting (37.7%) from the field.

Purdue dominated Gonzaga in points in the paint, 44-30.

The Boilermakers jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, but the Bulldogs answered with a 14-0 run that was capped by a Hickman pull-up jumper at the 14:28 mark.

Purdue took the lead for good with 14:53 left to play on a Edey putback dunk that gave the Boilermakers a 43-42 advantage. Purdue led by as many as 14.

Gonzaga held a 35-30 lead at halftime.

BIG PICTURE

Purdue returns all five starters from last year’s team that went 29-6 and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Edey, the reigning AP National Player of the Year, is one of two players in the country averaging at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

Gonzaga reached the Elite Eight a year ago and added a trio of impact transfers in Ike (Wyoming), Nembhard (Creighton) and Steele Ventura (Eastern Washington) via the portal.

UP NEXT

Purdue: Will meet No. 7 Tennessee, a 73-56 winner over Syracuse, in a semifinal Tuesday.

Gonzaga: Will play Syracuse on Tuesday in a consolation game.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball