On a night when both teams blew double-figure leads, No. 2 Purdue rallied from a 10-point, second-half deficit Thursday night to stop Minnesota 84-76 in West Lafayette, Ind.
Zach Edey led the Boilermakers (23-2, 12-2 Big Ten) with 24 points and 15 rebounds despite playing just 29 minutes due to foul trouble. Braden Smith added 16 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while Mason Gillis came off the bench for 14 points for Purdue, which won its ninth game in a row.
Purdue’s Lance Jones contributed 12 points.
Dawson Garcia paced the Golden Gophers (15-9, 6-7) with 24 points, while Mike Mitchell Jr. added 14 and Cam Christie finished with 13 points. Minnesota, which took its second consecutive loss, hit 9 of 16 3-point attempts in the first half but cooled off after the break, making just 3 of 9.
No. 18 Saint Mary’s 103, Pepperdine 59
Augustas Marciulionis scored a career-high 28 points and the Gaels won their 13th straight game, defeating the Waves in Moraga, Calif.
Alex Ducas contributed 18 points and Aidan Mahaney finished with 13 points and seven rebounds for Saint Mary’s (21-6, 12-0 West Coast Conference), which returned to the AP Top 25 this week after falling out in the second week of the season.
Jevon Porter scored 13 points, Michael Ajayi added 11 points and Houston Mallette had 10 for Pepperdine (10-17, 3-9), which has dropped seven of eight.
No. 24 Florida Atlantic 80, Temple 68
Johnell Davis had 17 points and six assists and Alijah Martin added 16 points and seven rebounds as Florida Atlantic thwarted an upset bid from Temple in Boca Raton, Fla.
Brandon Weatherspoon also scored 16 points while Vladislav Golden and Nick Boyd each scored 12 as Florida Atlantic (20-5, 10-2 American Athletic Conference) won for the ninth time in 10 games and improved to 10-1 at home.
Jordan Riley had 19 points and six rebounds and Sam Hofman added 12 points as Temple (8-17, 1-11) lost its 10th straight game.
–Field Level Media
