#5 Purdue Beats Shorthanded Minnesota
January 13, 2018

“We’re overmatched right now,” said Minnesota coach Richard Pitino after an 81-47 loss to fifth-ranked Purdue, which won its 13th straight game and improved its Big Ten record to 6-0 at Williams Arena.

The Gophers lost shot-blocking center Reggie Lynch to a suspension for alleged sexual misconduct and are without Amir Coffey, out indefinitely with a shoulder injury. With 7-foot-2 senior center Isaac Haas backed up by 7-3 freshman, Matt Haarms, the Boilermakers dominated the boards, leaving Minnesota strong man Jordan Murphy with fewer than five rebounds for the second game in a row. Murphy, who had started the season with 17 double-doubles, said, “They are two obviously talented and huge guys.”

Neither team shot well in the early going of a game that tipped off at 11:01 a.m. Both the Gophers and Boilermakers made only 3 of 12 shots through the first 7 minutes. But Purdue heated up, and Minnesota did not, finishing the game with a 29 percent field-goal percentage.

Dupree McBrayer hit a three-pointer for his only points of the game to give the Gophers their only lead, at 11-9, with 12:35 left in the first half. The Boilermakers scored the next 15 points and 25 of the next 31, a run capped by a basket by Vincent Edwards to give him 20 points in the half.

Purdue built the margin to 40-20, although Minnesota scored 10 straight points at the end of the first and beginning of the second half. That was as close as the Gophers got as the bigger and better Boilermakers built the lead and shut down the Minnesota offense, finishing with the final 7 points for a 34-point win.

Vincent Edwards was game high with 25 points while Carsen Edwards and Haas each had 14. Off the bench, Isaiah Washington shot enough to lead the Gophers with 11 points (he was 3 of 13 from the field), and Murphy scored 10 points to go with 4 rebounds.

“It’s draining,” said Pitino. “I gotta get their minds right.

“It feels like a totally new team. I’d like three months of practice. I’ll get an hour tomorrow before we go to Penn State.”