No. 24 Purdue Basketball Topples No. 6 Gonzaga 84-66 in Phil Knight Legacy Semifinal
PORTLAND, Ore. — It was a full team effort for No. 24 Purdue basketball, which had four players score in double figures to take down No. 6 Gonzaga 84-66 in the Phil Knight Legacy semifinal at the Moda Center.
Junior center Zach Edey led all scorers with 23 points while freshman guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer each put up 14 points, including a combined five 3-pointers for the Boilermakers. Star forward Drew Timme paced the Bulldogs with 22 points, but they only attempted four free throws and shot 40.3% from the field.
Both teams struggled from the floor early in the opening half, and Purdue opened the game by making just one of its first 11 shots. Smith and Loyer scored the team’s first seven points, but Gonzaga led by as many as seven points before the Boilermakers found a rhythm offensively.
After making eight 3-pointers on Thursday night against West Virginia, Purdue attempted 15 shots from beyond the arc in the first half and saw four of them fall through the basket. Loyer created separation for himself and drilled his second deep shot of the game as part of a 9-0 run to give the Boilermakers an 18-16 advantage — their first lead of the contest — with 6:33 left before halftime.
Timme, who led all scorers with 11 points before the break, kept the game close for the Bulldogs. But by coupling nine fouls with 34% shooting from the floor in the opening period, Gonzaga watched as Purdue surged to an eight-point lead.
The Boilermakers were on a 15-3 run at the end of the first half before Timme put in the final basket in the period. Purdue led Gonzaga 33-28 heading into the locker room. Smith and junior center Zach Edey led the way with eight points each, and the team was 5-of-7 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs didn’t attempt a single shot from the foul line until the second half.
Loyer opened the scoring after halftime with his third 3-pointer of the game, but Gonzaga responded with a 7-0 run to cut Purdue’s lead to just one point. It was the closest the Bulldogs would get as the Boilermakers made 56.7% of their shots in the second half and hit on 6-of-11 attempts from the 3-point line.
Sophomore forward Caleb Furst scored eight straight points for Purdue, giving the team a 57-45 lead with a 3-pointer from the right corner with 8:39 left to play. He scored 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting and added six rebounds in 16 minutes on the floor.
The double-digit lead put the Boilermakers on cruise control for the remainder of the game, going ahead by as many as 20 points. They dominated the Bulldogs on the boards, earning a 46-31 rebounding advantage that included 13 offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points.
Edey scored 15 points in the second half and finished the game shooting 10-of-16 from the field while coming down with a team-high seven rebounds. Gonzaga was called for 19 fouls and only managed five fastbreak points in the contest.
Purdue improves to 5-0 on the season and moves on to play in the Phil Knight Legacy championship game against No. 8 Duke, which is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. The matchup will be broadcast live on ABC.
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- Purdue Takes Down West Virginia 80-68 in the Phil Knight Legacy: No. 24 Purdue basketball knocked down 24 of its 28 free throws en route to a victory over West Virginia in the quarterfinals of the Phil Knight Legacy invitational tournament. Junior center Zach Edey led the way with 24 points and 12 rebounds while hitting on 10-of-12 shots from the foul line. CLICK HERE
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.