WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. – Shutting down one of the top offensive teams in the country for 25 minutes had the Gophers looking like they potentially could steal a big road victory Sunday.
Purdue shot only 1-for-13 from three-point range in the first half and trailed by 13 points in the second. But the upset-minded Gophers simply couldn't sustain that defensive effort in a 73-63 loss to the No. 17 Boilermakers in front of an announced 14,804 at Mackey Arena.
Big Ten leading scorer Carsen Edwards was only 1-for-9 shooting in the first half, but the 6-1 junior guard and preseason All-America finished with 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half for the Boilermakers (16-6, 9-2), who are tied with Michigan and Michigan State for the Big Ten lead.
"We did a lot of good things, but midway through the second half, we stopped rebounding the basketball on the defensive side of it," Gophers coach Richard Pitino said. "We went cold at the wrong time — and Edwards showed you why he's one of the better players in the country."
Edwards, who had 38 points and eight three-pointers in an overtime victory Thursday at Penn State, sparked Purdue's 21-2 second-half run with nine consecutive points, including his only three-pointer of the game with 13 minutes to play.
After 16 three-pointers Thursday, Purdue went just 5-for-24 from deep Sunday, but in the second half, the Boilermakers shot 59 percent from the floor and won the rebounding battle 21-12 after trailing by a point at halftime.
Amir Coffey had 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting, including 16 points in the second half for the Gophers (16-6, 6-5), whose two-game winning streak ended. Daniel Oturu had 13 of his 19 points in the first half.
"We got into a real bad offensive drought and couldn't hit a shot," said senior Jordan Murphy, who had 10 points, 10 rebounds and five turnovers. "We just have to avoid that and keep playing our game."
