National Basketball Association
Purdue 96, Auburn 71
When: 8:30 PM ET, Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Where: Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, Riviera Maya
Officials:
# Dwayne Gladden, # Bill Ek, # Jeremy Mosier
Attendance:
1610
By The Sports Xchange
Purdue coach Matt Painter said it was just one of those halves -- one of those halves where nearly everything went right.
The 17th-ranked Boilermakers shot 75 percent from the field in the second half, connecting on 9 of 12 3-pointers, to put away Auburn 96-71 on Wednesday in the Cancun Challenge championship game at Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Cancun, Mexico.
Caleb Swanigan and Isaac Haas each posted double-doubles, and freshman guard Carsen Edwards came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points.
Swanigan finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double in the Boilermakers' first five games. Haas had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Purdue (4-1).
Vince Edwards scored seven of his 15 points early in the second half, and Purdue used a 10-0 run to extend its lead to 66-52 with 10:22 to play. The margin grew to 20 on another 3-pointer by Vince Edwards with five minutes to play.
"We got a good mix of drives and transition opportunities (in the second half), and then when we got the ball inside, I thought our guys made good decisions," Painter told reporters after the game. "It was a great team effort and things just really got in sync there, and we are able to make some shots."
All five Purdue starters finished in double figures.
"It felt great," Carsen Edwards told reporters. "Being able to see my teammates making shots as well, us getting stops and getting out in transition and people getting dunks. It felt good."
Danjel Purifoy scored 22 points to lead Auburn (4-1). Mustapha Heron added 15 points, and T.J. Dunans came off the bench to contribute 10 points for the Tigers.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said his team needed a special effort to upset the more experienced the Boilermakers. The Tigers didn't deliver, but Pearl said not all was lost from the trip to Cancun, which began with a two-point win over Texas Tech.
"You look at how good Texas Tech is. They slapped Utah State," Pearl told reporters. "Texas Tech is going to be an NCAA Tournament team. So we got one win over an NCAA Tournament team. We got a loss against a team that is probably going to be a Sweet 16-type tournament team. We beat three good teams in North Florida, Georgia State and Eastern Kentucky. We're where I kind of expected us to be."
Carsen Edwards, Dakota Mathias and P.J. Thompson hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in the first half to extend Purdue's lead to 38-27 with 3:38 left before halftime.
Auburn answered with a 12-0 run and was leading 41-40 before Carsen Edwards drained a step-back 3-pointer at the end of the first half to send the Boilermakers into the locker room with a 43-41 lead.
"(The first half) does tell you the potential that we have. We are a young team," Pearl said.
Carsen Edwards had 14 points in the first half after scoring just three points in Purdue's win over Utah State on Tuesday.
"We just played well," Carsen Edwards told reporters. "Shots were falling for us. We were just executing and got stops on defense."
The Boilermakers return home to host NJIT on Saturday before taking on 10th-ranked Louisville on the road on Nov. 30.
Auburn hosts South Carolina Upstate on Tuesday.
NOTES: Purdue earned its ninth consecutive regular-season tournament game victory. ... Auburn reached a tournament championship game for the first time since winning the 2002 San Juan Shootout. ... Purdue defeated a Bruce Pearl-coached Tennessee team in the 2009 Paradise Jam. ... Auburn hit 10 of 11 free throws in the first half. Purdue connected on only 1 of 5 from the foul line in the first half. Overall, the Boilermakers were 7 of 13 at the line and the Tigers were 15 of 18.
Top Game Performances
| Auburn |
|
Purdue |
|
Danjel Purifoy 22 |
Scoring |
Carsen Edwards 21 |
|
T.J. Dunans 4 |
Assists |
Dakota Mathias 7 |
|
Mustapha Heron 8 |
Rebounds |
Isaac Haas 10 |
|
Mustapha Heron 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Carsen Edwards 3 |
|
T.J. Dunans 2 |
Steals |
Carsen Edwards 3 |
|
Horace Spencer 2 |
Blocks |
Vince Edwards 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Auburn
|
71 |
41.0 |
6-24 |
15-18 |
9 |
19 |
3 |
10 |
13 |
| Purdue
|
96 |
64.3 |
17-26 |
7-13 |
20 |
35 |
1 |
6 |
21 |
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