Edey, Purdue roll over Utah State
INDIANAPOLIS — Zach Edey had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 1 seed Purdue cruised into the Sweet 16 by pounding eighth-seeded Utah State 106-67 with an impressive offensive performance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
Trey Kaufman-Renn added 18 points and eight boards for Purdue (31-7), which broke the school’s single-season record for victories. Fletcher Loyer had 15 points, and Braden Smith had all six of his assists in the second half when the Boilermakers shot 65.2% from the field before pulling the starters.
Purdue also set a school record for most points in a March Madness game. Next up is No. 5 seed Gonzaga in the Midwest Region semifinals in Detroit.
Great Osodor, the Mountain West Player of the Year, had 14 points and six rebounds for Utah State. The Aggies (28-7) were outrebounded 49-26, and they headed home still in search of the program’s first regional semifinal since 1970.
Edey, Purdue’s career scoring and rebounding leader, looks as if he’s on a mission to add to his legacy after last year’s embarrassing first-round exit at the hands of 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson.
Another win would put Purdue in its first Elite Eight since 2019, when it lost in overtime to eventual national champ Virginia — one year after the Cavaliers became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed, UMBC.
CREIGHTON 86 OREGON 73 (2 OT)
Steven Ashworth and Ryan Kalkbrenner made 3-pointers in the second overtime, and the Bluejays edged past their former coach, the Ducks’ Dana Altman, to move into the Sweet 16 with a win Saturday night in Pittsburgh.
The 3s by the 6-foot-1 Ashworth and a rare one by the 7-1 Kalkbrenner helped third-seeded Creighton (25-9) score the first 15 points of the second OT to finally put away 11th-seeded Oregon (24-12).
Ashworth scored 21 points, Trey Alexander added 20 and Kalkbrenner 19 for Creighton, which will make its third Sweet 16 appearance in four years when it faces Tennessee next week in Detroit.
It took balance, big shots, clutch free throws and poise for the Bluejays to overcome Oregon’s 1-2 punch of Jermaine Couisnard and N’Faly Dante.
Couisnard, who had 40 points in the first round against South Carolina — his former school — had 32 and Dante added 28 points and 20 rebounds.