Boilermakers lose to Clemson 81-70 in Space Coast Challenge final

MELBOURNE, Fla. — Aamir Simms scored 24 points, Nick Honor added 17 points and a career-high four steals and Clemson beat Purdue 81-70 on Thursday night to win the four-team Space Coast Challenge.

Jonathan Baehre scored 11 points for Clemson (2-0) and Al-Amir Dawes added 10 points. The Tigers, who held Mississippi State to 42 points on Wednesday, forced 22 Purdue turnovers, including 13 Clemson steals.

Zach Edey had 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocks for Purdue (1-1). Isaiah Thompson and Brandon Newman added 15 points apiece.

Baehre hit a 3-pointer and then a jumper to spark a 10-0 run that made it 58-48 when Dawes made a jumper with 9:02 left. Newman answered with a 3 to pull the Boilermakers within seven, but they got no closer.

Freshman Jaden Ivey did not play for Purdue. The 6-foot-4 guard scored 12 points but injured his right foot in Wednesday’s 77-64 win over Liberty.

Simms, who averaged 13.0 points and 7.2 rebounds as a junior last season, played eight minutes before he fouled out with just four points on 1-of-5 shooting and one rebound in a win over Mississippi State on Wednesday.

Baehre, a 6-foot-10 senior, transferred from UNC-Asheville following 28-point, 14-rebound performance in the Bulldogs’ season-ending loss to Southern California in the first round of the 2018 NIT. After suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in May 2019 with Clemson, Baehre played in just two games last season before re-tearing the same ACL last February.

Purdue was not ranked in the AP preseason Top 25 poll for the first time since the 2014-15 season.