| (9-5, 1-0) PURDUE 72, (11-3, 0-1) Minnesota 68 Mackey Arena | 10,018 - Box Score | Box Score  | SoundCloud Audio | Interviews  | Photos  | Media CenterSocial Media: @BoilerBall  | Facebook  | Instragram | SoundCloud |
GAME NOTES
- Purdue is now 6-4 in Big Ten openers under Matt Painter, having won four of the last five Big Ten openers. Purdue is 65-45 all-time in Big Ten Conference openers.
- Purdue is now 38-6 all-time against Minnesota in Mackey Arena, including 8-0 during the Painter era. The win was the 100th all-time against Minnesota.
- Purdue's 13-point comeback was the largest in Big Ten play since rallying from a 14-point second-half deficit against Northwestern on Jan. 15, 2009.
- Head coach Matt Painter became the third Purdue head coach to win 200 career games. He now has a 200-117 record in his 10th year at Purdue.
- Purdue held Minnesota to 15 points below its season average of 83.1 PPG.
- Purdue had 20 assists on 23 made field goals.
- Purdue is now 83-8 under Painter when winning both the turnover and rebounding battles.
- Kendall Stephens made four three-pointers tonight, giving him 101 for his career. He is now the 21st player in school history with 100 triples.
- Jon Octeus surpassed 700 career points with a 10-point showing against Minnesota.
- Minnesota was just 15-of-37 (.405) from inside the three-point line.
- Rapheal Davis went 10-of-10 from the free throw line, the first Boilermaker to make all of his FT attempts (min. 10 attempts) since Robbie Hummel (12-of-12) vs. Illinois on Feb. 20, 2010.
- Purdue had seven turnovers in the game's first 12 minutes. Purdue then had five turnovers in the last 28 minutes. Minnesota forced 20.8 turnovers per game entering today.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Kendall Stephens scored 19 points, and Purdue overcame an 11-point, second-half deficit to defeat Minnesota 72-68 in the Big Ten opener for both teams on Wednesday.
Rapheal Davis scored the Boilermakers' final four points on two free throws with 19 seconds left and then a dunk with 3.8 remaining. Davis added 18 and was 10 of 10 from the foul line.
His two free throws with 2:15 left gave Purdue (9-5) the lead for good, 64-62.
Joey King and Maurice Walker scored 13 apiece for Minnesota (11-3), which had its eight-game winning streak snapped.
Purdue was 22 of 27 from the line, and Minnesota was 14 of 20.
Vince Edwards made two free throws with 4:56 left to give the Boilermakers a 60-58 lead, their first since it was 4-2. Raphael Davis' dunk off a steal extended the lead to 62-58. Minnesota scored the next four to tie it at 62.
Isaac Haas' putback and Stephens' 3-pointer had pulled Purdue to within 56-53 with 6:55 to play, prompting a Minnesota timeout. Stephens tied it at 56 with a 3-pointer at the 6:07 mark, but Maurice Walker pushed Minnesota ahead seconds later. Haas made two free throws at the 5:28 mark to tie it again at 58.
Purdue got within 48-42, but Mathieu's 3-pointer made it 51-42. Carlos Morris scored with 9:36 left to give the Golden Gophers a 55-44 advantage.
Purdue began the second half on a 9-2 run, cutting the Minnesota lead to 38-34 on a Stephens 3-pointer at the 16:24 mark. The Golden Gophers countered with an 8-2 burst and led 46-36 with 13:45 to play.
Joey King's 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first half gave Minnesota a 36-25 lead through 20 minutes and capped a half in which the Golden Gophers made 5 of 7 attempts from beyond the arc.
The game was tied early at 8-all before Minnesota used a 16-4 run to take a 24-12 lead.
The Gophers had won eight a row since losing to No. 15 St. John's on Nov. 26. The Golden Gophers only other loss was Nov. 14 to No. 5 Louisville.
Minnesota entered the Purdue game leading the Big Ten in 3-point percentage, assists, steals and turnover margin.
Three of the Golden Gophers first four Big Ten games are on the road.
After a 6-1 start, the Boilermakers lost four of six, including three in a row. Purdue plays three of its first four Big Ten games at home.
Kendall Stephens became the 21st Boilermaker with at least 100 made 3-pointers.
Up next Purdue will host Michigan on Saturday.