Edey powers Purdue past Marquette for Maui title

Nov 22, 2023, 07:50 PM ET HONOLULU– Zach Edey had 28 points and 15 rebounds and carried No. 2 Purdue to a 78-75 win over No. 4 Marquette in the national championship of the Maui Invitational on Wednesday.The early season matchup of undefeated groups in a competition stacked with 5 groups ranked among the leading 11 nationally did not disappoint.Edey, the ruling national Gamer of the Year, shot 11 of 19 from the field and led the Boilermakers( 6-0 )to their very first Maui Invitational title.Editor’s Picks Purdue led by as lots of as 15 points early in the 2nd half. Marquette chipped away and pulled within 76-75 on a basket by Oso Ighodaro with less than a minute to play, but Edey provided his team some breathing room with a right-handed putback of Braden Smith’s missed layup for a 78-75 lead with 18 seconds remaining.Marquette had 2 opportunities to connect it, but 3-point attempts by Tyler Kolek and Kam Jones in the closing seconds failed to drop.Marquette was trying to end up being the first string to record wins over the No. 1-and No. 2-ranked teams in the country in back-to-back games since Loyola Chicago beat No. 2 Duke, followed by a triumph over No. 1 Cincinnati in the 1963 Last Four. The Golden Eagles ‘win over No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday was their third over a top-ranked team in program history.Smith scored 18 points and Fletcher Loyer added 10 for Purdue.Kolek had 22 points, seven rebounds and six helps, and Kam Jones included 17 points and five helps for the Golden Eagles(5-1). Lance Jones hit a desperation heave from three-quarters the length of the court at the first-half buzzer to give Purdue a 45-33 lead at the break.It was the 2nd straight year that the groups faced off.

Purdue posted a 75-70 win over Marquette last season.Purdue is all however certain to relocate to No. 1 by virtue of its 3 wins over three groups ranked in the leading 11, including No. 7 Tennessee on Tuesday. It would be the Boilermakers very first time atop the AP survey given that Feb. 20, 1978 UP NEXT Purdue: Hosts Texas Southern on Tuesday in the second meeting between the schools.Marquette: Will deal with Southern at home on Tuesday before dipping into in-state rival Wisconsin on Dec. 2.