Zach Edey, No. 2 Purdue rally to beat No. 11 Gonzaga 73-63 at Maui Invitational
Purdue center Zach Edey (15) grabs a rebound over Gonzaga forward Ben Gregg during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, in Honolulu. Credit: AP/Marco Garcia
HONOLULU — 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.
“The start of the second half was key for us, getting some transition baskets, getting some steals, I thought we had some active hands at that time and I think that kind of set the tone for us in the second half. The other difference, I thought, was their inability to make 3s in the second half,” Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said.
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. Smith also notched five steals.
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.
The Purdue bench reacts to play against Gonzaga during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, in Honolulu. Credit: AP/Marco Garcia
Purdue dominated Gonzaga in points in the paint, 44-30.
Gonzaga was only 5 of 8 from the line, while Purdue made 13 of 16 free throws.
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.
Gonzaga forward Braden Huff makes a slam dunk over Purdue during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, in Honolulu. Credit: AP/Marco Garcia
Gonzaga shot 6 of 19 from beyond the arc in the first half and went 0 for 13 from long distance the rest of the way.
“I think if you look at the 3s we took, they were all good shots. I don’t know that we took any bad ones during that stretch. Obviously, that was a fairly big factor, I thought the bigger factor was that we just turned the ball over too much,” said Bulldogs coach Mark Few, whose team committed 14 turnovers.
Purdue led by as many as 14.
Gonzaga held a 35-30 lead at halftime.
Purdue improved to 4-0 all-time against Gonzaga. The teams last faced off in the semifinals of the Phil Knight Legacy last year. The Boilermakers won that one, 84-66.
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.
EXTENDING THE STREAK
Purdue, which was coming off of a 83-71 win over Xavier a week ago, has now won 28 consecutive regular-season, non-conference games dating to December 2020, the longest such streak in the country.
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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