Zach Edey scored 21 points to lift No. 6 Purdue to an 80-74 win over No. 5 Villanova to capture the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic championship Sunday in Uncasville, Conn.
Caleb Furst and Isaiah Thompson each had 12 points and Jaden Ivey added 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Boilermakers (5-0). Sasha Stefanovic also had 10 points in the win.
Justin Moore led Villanova (3-2) with 19 points, while Caleb Daniels added 17 and Collin Gillespie had 14. Jermaine Samuels and Brandon Slater also contributed 10 apiece.
Purdue dominated the glass en route to jumping out to a 21-13 lead with 10:04 remaining in the first half.
But the Wildcats responded with the next eight points — a 3-pointer by Moore, a 15-foot jumper by Slater and a 3-pointer by Gillespie.
Daniels produced a pair of late 3-pointers off the bench and the Wildcats led 33-31 at halftime.
Edey paced Purdue with eight points and four rebounds.
The Wildcats received two free throws from Eric Dixon and a 3-pointer from Moore to go ahead 38-31 with 18:46 left.
Furst drove to the basket, was fouled and completed a three-point play to cut the deficit to four. On his team’s next possession, Edey grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to close within two.
Dixon dropped in a jump hook in the lane and Samuels came back with a dunk for a 47-41 Villanova advantage with 13:58 to go.
The Wildcats went ahead 57-46 after another trey from Daniels with 9:03 remaining.
Purdue scored the next five points to cut the deficit to six.
But Gillespie hit again from 3-point territory for a 60-51 advantage.
Edey made two free throws, Thompson knocked down a trey and the deficit was four, 60-56.
The Boilermakers took a 64-62 lead after Furst’s layup with 4:07 left.
Ivey hit two free throws, Samuels missed a 3-pointer and Purdue responded with a trey from the corner by Furst for a 69-62 advantage with 2:30 to go.
Thompson’s trey gave Purdue a 72-65 lead with 1:29 left.
The Boilermakers made 11 straight shots down the stretch to seal the win.
–Field Level Media
