Edwards-led Boilers advance

MILWAUKEE — Vincent Edwards scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and Purdue held off Vermont 80-70 on Thursday night for its first victory in the NCAA Tournament in five years.

Caleb Swanigan added 16 points, 14 rebounds and four assists for the fourthseeded Boilermakers (26-7), who were upset by Arkansas-Little Rock in double-overtime in the first round of last year’s tournament. Dakota Mathias made three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.

Next up for Purdue is a second-round game against the winner of Nevada-Iowa State.

It was Vermont’s first loss of 2017. The Catamounts (29-6), the regular-season and tournament champions in the America East, had the nation’s longest active win streak at 21 games. But they were unable to make up for a huge disadvantage inside against the bigger, stronger Boilermakers.

Anthony Lamb had 20 points and nine rebounds for Vermont, and Trae Bell-Haynes finished with 15 points, seven boards and six assists.

With Swanigan and 7-foot-2 center Isaac Haas, Purdue had a huge size advantage around the rim. But the Catamounts played tough perimeter defense, turning post passes into a risky proposition, and stayed right with the Boilermakers with opportunistic baskets on offense.

But the combination of Edwards and Swanigan was too much to overcome down the stretch.