MELBOURNE, Fla. – Clemson used a late 15-3 run to break open a tight game and hand the Boilermakers their first loss of the season in the championship game of the Space Coast Challenge, 81-70.
The loss drops Purdue to 1-1 heading into Tuesday's home opener with Oakland. The Boilermakers were playing without guards Eric Hunter Jr., and Jaden Ivey, who injured his foot in Wednesday's win over Liberty.
Purdue fell behind 32-19 with about five minutes left in the first half, but whittled the lead to 36-28 at halftime and eventually tied the game at 48 with 12 minutes left, before the Tigers used their 15-3 run to take a 63-51 advantage with just over six minutes to play.
Purdue would get no closer than seven the rest of the way at 77-70 with 15 seconds left before the Tigers finished an 81-70 decision.
The story of the game was turnovers. The Boilermakers committed 22 turnovers resulting in 24 Clemson points. The Boilermakers outrebounded Clemson by 13 (37-24), but shot just 26 of 58 (.448) from the field and 9 of 21 (.429) from 3-point range.
Freshmen Zach Edey and Brandon Newman led Purdue with 17 and 15 points respectively. Edey added eight rebounds and two blocks, while Newman had five rebounds and two steals. Isaiah Thompson scored 15 points while Trevion Williams had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Edey and Newman were named to the All-Tournament team. Edey averaged 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 15 of 18 from the field. Newman averaged 12.5 points per game and shot 10 of 23 from the field and 4 of 10 from long range.
The loss drops Purdue to 1-1 heading into Tuesday's home opener with Oakland. The Boilermakers were playing without guards Eric Hunter Jr., and Jaden Ivey, who injured his foot in Wednesday's win over Liberty.
Purdue fell behind 32-19 with about five minutes left in the first half, but whittled the lead to 36-28 at halftime and eventually tied the game at 48 with 12 minutes left, before the Tigers used their 15-3 run to take a 63-51 advantage with just over six minutes to play.
Purdue would get no closer than seven the rest of the way at 77-70 with 15 seconds left before the Tigers finished an 81-70 decision.
The story of the game was turnovers. The Boilermakers committed 22 turnovers resulting in 24 Clemson points. The Boilermakers outrebounded Clemson by 13 (37-24), but shot just 26 of 58 (.448) from the field and 9 of 21 (.429) from 3-point range.
Freshmen Zach Edey and Brandon Newman led Purdue with 17 and 15 points respectively. Edey added eight rebounds and two blocks, while Newman had five rebounds and two steals. Isaiah Thompson scored 15 points while Trevion Williams had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Edey and Newman were named to the All-Tournament team. Edey averaged 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 15 of 18 from the field. Newman averaged 12.5 points per game and shot 10 of 23 from the field and 4 of 10 from long range.