No. 21 Gophers falter in second half, fall to Purdue 81-62
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Brandon Newman scored 21 of his season-high 29 points in the second half Saturday, Trevion Williams added 17 points and 14 rebounds and Purdue overcame an early 14-point deficit to beat No. 21 Minnesota 81-62.
The Boilermakers (12-6, 6-4 Big Ten) have won five of six. Coach Matt Painter earned his 174th Big Ten victory, tying former Illinois coach Harry Combes for No. 8 on the conference’s career list.
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Liam Robbins scored 15 points and Brandon Johnson had 11 for Minnesota (11-6, 4-6). The Golden Gophers fell to 0-5 on the road and have lost five of seven — this one perhaps the toughest of all.
They dominated most of the first half as they took a 24-10 lead.
But the Boilermakers rallied late, trimming the deficit to 35-30 at the half. They opened the second half on a 10-4 run, taking a 40-39 lead with 15:34 to play. Purdue then used an 11-0 spurt to extend the margin to 53-41 with 10:05 remaining. Minnesota never got closer than seven again.
BIG PICTURE
Minnesota: It looked like the Golden Gophers had finally solved this season’s road woes Saturday. Instead, an inexplicably poor second-half performance doomed them again.
Purdue: After going 0 for 5 on 3-pointers in the first half and 2 for 17 in the first three halves since Sasha Stefanovic tested positive for COVID-19, Newman finally gave the Boilermakers an answer. If Purdue keeps playing like it did in the second half, they’ll be tough to beat.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Minnesota: The Gophers slid four spots in last week’s poll. The descent will probably continue when the new rankings are released Monday — and they could fall the way out.
Purdue: An impressive four-game winning streak had the Boilermakers back in the Top 25 discussion before losing at home last week to Michigan. Saturday’s win should put them back in the mix this week.
UP NEXT
Minnesota: Will try to end its road losing streak Thursday at Rutgers.
Purdue: Hopes to pull off a season sweep of Maryland when it visits College Park on Tuesday.
