Boilermakers roll behind Edey’s 35
TORONTO — Zach Edey matched his season high with 35 points in his hometown, Braden Smith had a season-high 27 points and No. 4 Purdue rallied to beat Alabama 92-86 on Saturday.
In front of a pro-Purdue crowd in Canada that included several of his friends and family, Edey played in his home city for the first time since 2016-17, when he was a sophomore in high school.
“It’s amazing to be back,” Edey said. “They really came out, they showed love, they really supported us. Every time we needed a pick-me-up, the crowd was there for us.”
The senior center made 11 free throws without a miss and was 12 for 20 from the field. He also had seven rebounds.
“Obviously, Zach Edey is a leading candidate for national player of the year,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “You can see why, he’s a tough cover. We didn’t do a terrible job on him and he had 35 points. He makes things difficult.”
Edey passed Robbie Hummel to move into the top 10 on Purdue’s career scoring list.
“He’s a cornerstone of our program,” Boilermakers Coach Matt Painter said of Edey. “Being able to schedule this game and get him back here was great. We should do this, you know, for everything he’s done for us.”
Smith shot 9 for 20 and had eight assists for Purdue (9-1). Mark Sears scored a season-high 35 points for Alabama (6-3).
In other men’s Top 25 games Saturday, Pelle Larsson scored a career-high 21 points, Caleb Love added 20, and No. 1 Arizona rolled to a 98-73 win over No. 23 Wisconsin. Larsson finished 6 of 6 shooting from the floor, including 4 of 4 on three-pointers. The Wildcats (8-0) shot 58% from the floor. John Blackwell had 17 points to lead the Badgers (7-3). … Hunter Dickinson had 13 points and 16 rebounds, Kevin McCullar Jr. and KJ Adams had 17 points each and No. 2 Kansas beat rival Missouri 73-64. Sean East II led Missouri (7-3) with 21 points. … Emanuel Sharp scored a career-high 25 points, LJ Cryer added 21, and No. 3 Houston defeated Jackson State 8955. … Isaac Traudt set career highs with five three-pointers and 18 points off the bench, and five other Creighton players scored 10 or more points as the No. 10 Bluejays routed Central Michigan 109-64. … Max Abmas had 16 points and seven assists and No. 12 Texas beat Houston Christian 77-50. Kadin Shedrick had 15 points, 3 blocks and 4 of the Longhorns’ 13 steals. … Aaron Bradshaw celebrated his homecoming with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Rob Dillingham also scored 17 points to lead No. 16 Kentucky past Penn 8166 at the Wells Fargo Center. Antonio Reeves scored 16 points for Kentucky (7-2). … Dalton Knecht scored 21 points and No. 17 Tennessee rallied from a second-half deficit to beat No. 20 Illinois 86-79. Guard Santiago Vescovi added 12 points and nine rebounds for Tennessee (6-3). Jonas Aidoo scored 14 and Josiah-Jordan James had 12 points and seven assists. … Jared McCain scored 14 of his season-high 21 points in the first half and No. 22 Duke got rolling again following two losses and a week layoff, beating UNC-Charlotte 80-56. … Joseph Girard III scored 21 points, PJ Hall had 17 and No. 24 Clemson (9-0) extended its unbeaten start to the season by beating TCU 74-66. Ian Schieffelin had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Emanuel Miller led the Horned Frogs (71) with 16 points.