- Purdue improved to 5-0 with an 84-66 win over No. 6-ranked Gonzaga in the semifinals of the Phil Knight Legacy. Purdue advances to Sunday's championship game against No. 8 Duke at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
- Purdue is searching for its second straight regular-season tournament title after winning the Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic last November (defeated North Carolina and Villanova).
- Purdue is now 3-0 all-time against Gonzaga. This was the first meeting since the 2000 Sweet 16, Mark Few's first season at Gonzaga.
- Purdue has started 5-0 or better under Matt Painter in seven seasons. It reached the Sweet 16 in four of the seasons.
- Purdue is now 24-6 in regular-season, multi-team tournaments since 2014, having won three tournament titles (2015, 2021 Hall of Fame Tipoff Championship; 2016 Cancun Challenge).
- The win was Purdue's 12th straight victory in the month of November (Nov. 26, 2020, vs. Clemson) and 18th straight regular-season, non-conference win (Dec. 8, 2020, vs. Miami, Fla.).
- Purdue improved to 150-12 under Matt Painter when scoring at least 80 points, including 64-2 since the start of the 2017-18 season. Purdue has won 42 straight games when scoring 80 or more points.
- Since the start of the 2016-17 season, Purdue is 31-27 against top-25 teams. The 31 wins are the seventh-most nationally.
- Purdue has won 11 games by 15 or more points against top-25 teams since the start of the 2016-17 season, the highest total in the country.
- Purdue has held five straight opponents under 42.0 percent shooting from the field.
- One night after having 18 turnovers in a 12-point win over West Virginia, Purdue had eight turnovers against Gonzaga.
- Purdue has beaten a top-10 ranked team in five of the last six seasons (2020-21).
- Zach Edey scored 23 points with seven rebounds and three blocked shots. It ended a streak of four straight double-doubles to start the season, but he's scored 20 or more points in four straight games. He scored all 23 of his points in the final 31 minutes of the game.
- Freshman Braden Smith had 14 points, a career-high seven assists and five rebounds, going 4-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Smith had 6 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds in the second half.
- Freshman Fletcher Loyer tallied 14 points with five assists and three rebounds.
- Caleb Furst had 10 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes of action.
- Purdue's freshman class accounted for 32 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists against three turnovers.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Zach Edey and his Purdue teammates were admittedly too excited early on for the chance to compare themselves to one of the top teams in the country.
Once the 24th-ranked Boilermakers calmed down, they showed they are worthy of their own consideration as a top team after a thorough 84-66 thumping of No. 6 Gonzaga in the semifinals of the Phil Knight Legacy tournament on Friday night.
"I think everyone was really psyched up for this game and that kind of came up that first few minutes with those early game jitters," Edey said. "I thought as the game went on we did a really good job of sticking to our scouting report."
Edey scored 15 of his 23 points in the final 15 minutes, Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer each added 14, and Purdue surged into a championship game matchup against No. 8 Duke.
Edey, Purdue's 7-foot-4 center, was the catalyst for a big second half and took over for stretches. But he had a pretty good supporting cast. Caleb Furst added 10 points, and Purdue (5-0) shot 57 percent in the second half, made six of 11 3-point attempts and outrebounded the Bulldogs 46-31.
And Purdue had an answer for every run the Gonzaga tried to make.
"He's a moose. He just camps out down there. He's strong. He knows how to use his body. He knows how to get to his hook and it's kind of just like, you have to put your hands up and hope he misses it," Gonzaga forward Drew Timme said.
Purdue handed Gonzaga a second loss in the month of November for the first time since 2010. The Bulldogs (4-2) were 71-8 in November games since 2010 entering Friday.
Timme led Gonzaga with 22 points and nine rebounds in his highly anticipated matchup with Edey. Nolan Hickman added 15 but the rest of Gonzaga's role players were mostly absent at the offensive end. Julian Strawther had just four points. Malachi Smith, who had 23 points in the opening round win over Portland State, scored three.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few was frustrated with some shot decisions and felt the offensive struggles led to defensive breakdowns in the second half.
"I thought we took a couple, well more than a couple, five, six, seven pull-up jumpers that we didn't need to and that led to some frustration and carried over to the defensive end. We got torched on defense in the second half," Few said.
Both teams exchanged eight-point leads in the first half, and it was Purdue leading 33-28 at the break.
Gonzaga pulled to 36-35 in the opening moments of the second half thanks to two baskets from Timme and 3 by Rasir Bolton. But the Boilermakers answered with 13 of the next 18 points. Edey scored in the paint twice and Newman's 3-pointer coming off a screen pushed the Purdue lead to 49-40 and led Few to burn a timeout.
Purdue eventually pushed the lead to 12 as Furst scored eight straight points with a free throw, a pair of dunks and a 3-pointer that gave the Boilermakers a 57-45 lead with 8:36 remaining.
Purdue's lead eventually reached 20 in the final minute.
"Our guys are competitive. They're fun to coach. They get along," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "They're out there playing with purpose and that's what you have to have. Early in the season, very few teams play with the purpose collectively. I thought our guys played with a purpose today."