Big Ten play did not get off to the start that Ben Johnson and his Minnesota Golden Gophers program were hoping for. On Sunday evening, the Gophers were defeated by the Purdue Boilermakers 89-70 at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette.
The Boilermakers were led by junior center Zach Edey who completely dominated in the game with an incredible 31-point, 22-rebound double-double. It's the 30th instance since the 2010 season of a player recording at least 30 points and 20 rebounds in a single game.
The Boilermakers also got double-digit efforts from junior guard Brandon Newman (13), freshman guard Fletcher Loyer (20), sophomore forward Caleb Furst (10), and freshman Trey Kaufman-Renn (10).
The Gophers were led offensively by Jamison Battle who had 21 points, two assists, and one rebound in 37 minutes of action. Junior guard Ta'Lon Cooper also had 15 points, eight assists, and five rebounds in the loss.
The Gophers were able to keep this one close through the first seven minutes of action as it was a 10-9 Purdue game heading with 13 minutes to go but a 7-0 run by the Boilermakers in under two minutes extended the Boilermakers lead to 17-9. The Gophers would battle back to make it a 21-15 game heading into the final minutes of the first half but the Boilermakers would dominate the last seven minutes of action. By haltime, the Boilermakers would find themselves ahead 42-27.
While the Gophers put up a stronger fight in the second half, it was not enough to climb back into the game. The Boilermakers' lead in the second half would get as low as 13 points but offensively proved to be too strong for the Gophers as they totaled 47 second-half points to the Gophers' 42.
For the Gophers, the loss is their fourth of the season bringing their record to 4-4 on the year. They're also losers of three straight with a tough matchup against Michigan set for Thursday.
============================
- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION.
- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @AlexCarlsonTGR, @SeanW_Rivals, @DylanCC_FB, @JaredHalus
- SUBSCRIBE to The Gopher Report.
