Edwards, Wheeler lead Purdue past Maryland
Carsen Edwards scored 20 points and Aaron Wheeler had a season-high 15 on Thursday to help Purdue pull off a 62-60 upset over No. 23 Maryland in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Boilermakers (6-3, 1-1 Big Ten) snapped a two-game losing streak and avoided going 0-2 in conference play for the first time since 2013-14.
Anthony Cowan Jr. finished with 18 points and six assists for the Terrapins (7-2, 1-1). Bruno Fernando had 10 points and 13 rebounds while Darryl Morsell scored 12 points.
The Terrapins had plenty of chances to seize control on the road and even had a shot to win it at the buzzer when Morsell attempted a 3-pointer right in front of the Maryland bench. But Nojel Eastern blocked the shot to seal the victory.
Purdue, playing its third straight ranked opponent on the schedule, finally took advantage of Edwards’ decisive closing flurry to pull ahead after trailing for most of the first 33 minutes.
The Boilermakers charged back quickly Purdue’s Aaron Wheeler, left, steals the ball from Maryland’s Aaron Wiggins during Thursday’s game. from a 34-30 halftime deficit and tied the score when center Mat Haarms and forward Grady Eifert made back-to-back 3s with 14:05 to play.
Neither team could build a lead of more than three until Edwards started a second-half run. The last of his three pointers gave Purdue a 55-54 lead, then he dumped the ball off to Wheeler for a layup and fed a wide-open Haarms for a dunk that made it 59-54 with 5:18 left.
Maryland never recovered. It turned the ball over three times in the final five minutes and missed a free throw before Cowan made two free throws to get Maryland to 60-59 with 7.2 seconds left.
Edwards answered with two more free throws and Morsell’s potential winner never had a chance.
NO. 19 KENTUCKY 75, RHODE ISLAND 52: Maci Morris scored 29 points and made five 3-pointers as Kentucky (9-0) defeated Rhode Island (5-3) in Lexington, Kentucky. The Wildcats pulled away with a 29-point third quarter that included a 19-2 run. Kentucky ended the period with a 59-35 lead and led by at least 22 throughout the fourth quarter. Rhyne Howard added 19 points, seven rebounds and seven steals for Kentucky.