IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Toronto’s Zach Edey had 30 points and 18 rebounds to lead No. 2 Purdue past Iowa 84-70 on Saturday.
Lance Jones scored 17 points and Fletcher Loyer added 12 as the Boilermakers (17-2, 6-2 Big Ten) won their third consecutive game and 10th out of their last 11.
Edey, the reigning national player of the year, put constant pressure on Iowa’s smaller frontcourt while getting his 12th double-double of the season. He was 10 of 15 from the field and 10 of 15 on free throws. Edey helped the Boilermakers have a 50-24 rebounding edge.
Edey credited Purdue’s balanced offense — the Boilermakers got 36 points inside, but also hit nine 3-pointers — with getting him opportunities.
“We have so many ways to get the ball inside this year,” Edey said. “It’s really helping me. They can take away two or three different actions, and I’ll get (the ball) on the fourth. We do really good things looking for the post, and then playing out of it. We have guys that just make plays.”
The Hawkeyes tried every way to defend Edey, with little success.
“It’s just different with him,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “When he gets deep position, it’s hard (to defend him).”
Added guard Tony Perkins: “Honestly, I thought we did the best we could. Sometimes we played excellent defense. But he’s 285, 300 pounds. He’s hard to move. We were prepared, but that’s a big fella to keep out of the paint.”
Purdue had 19 offensive rebounds, forcing long extra possessions that wore down the Hawkeyes.
“It was just getting shots and trying to live on the glass,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “We have a great rebounding team, and tonight our ability to rebound the ball was probably the difference in the game. Nineteen offensive rebounds, that’s pretty impressive.”
Purdue trailed 18-14 with 12:32 left in the first half before going on a 19-2 run, with most of those points coming with Edey on the bench.
“They helped us extend the lead when I was on the bench,” Edey said of the players who were in the game during the run. “That was huge. They came in, did their job, played hard, they got on the glass and did the little things. I thought they played really well.”
Painter said Purdue would have preferred to have Edey on the court, but added: “I thought those guys were very active.”
UCONN 88, DePAUL 51 (WOMEN)
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Freshman Ashlynn Shade scored 21 points, Paige Bueckers added 20 and No. 9 UConn routed DePaul 88-51 on Saturday for its 12th straight win.
Aaliyah Edwards of Kingston, Ont. added 18 points for the Huskies (16-3, 8-0 Big East), who were playing a game on campus for the first time since Dec. 6.
Maeve McErlane had 15 points to lead DePaul (10-10, 2-5), which fell to 0-4 this season against ranked opponents.
DePaul led 11-10 when Shade made a hesitation move and drove for a layup, then stole the inbounds pass and scored again. A steal and layup by Bueckers forced a DePaul timeout. That started an 18-0 run and the Huskies led 30-14 after a quarter.
DePaul’s Jorie Allen and Kaitlyn Gilbert each picked up two fouls in the first quarter and three in the first half trying to guard Edwards, who had 10 points in the first 10 minutes.
A jumper by Bueckers, who had 18 of her points in the first half, gave the Huskies their first 20-point lead at 39-19 and a 3-pointer from Shade pushed the lead to 30-points at 49-19.
The Huskies led 49-21 at the half and put the game away by scoring the first seven points of the second half.
UConn had 37 points off 27 DePaul turnovers and had 23 assists on 31 baskets.
GONZAGA 89, SAINT MARY’S 60 (WOMEN
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Kaylynne Truong hit seven 3-pointers and scored a season-high 25 points, Calgary’s Yvonne Ejim added 22 and No. 17 Gonzaga rolled to an 89-60 victory over Saint Mary’s on Saturday for the Bulldogs’ 29th straight win at home.
Brynna Maxwell scored 14 points for Gonzaga (18-2, 6-0 West Coast Conference), which has won 12 straight games, and Kayleigh Truong added 10.
The Truong twins combined for 11 assists as the Bulldogs had 23 on 31 baskets. Eliza Hollingsworth had nine rebounds as Gonzaga had a 33-21 advantage on the boards.
Tayla Dalton had 17 points for the Gaels (8-10, 1-3) and Addison Wedin scored 16.
Kaylynne Truong was 4 of 5 from 3-point range in the third quarter when the Bulldogs stretched a 14-point halftime lead to 68-48.
Despite a cool fourth quarter that included missing their last three 3-pointers, the Bulldogs shot 51% (31 of 61) and were 14 of 31 (45%) from 3-point range after shooting 0 for 5 in the first quarter. They also went 13 of 13 from the foul line.
Saint Mary’s shot 49% and made 8 of 17 3s, but the rebounding margin and 20 turnovers gave Gonzaga 16 more shots.
The Bulldogs shot 56% (15 of 27) with five 3-pointers and had 12 assists to lead 40-26 at halftime. Wedin kept the Gaels relatively close, hitting 5 of 6 shots with four 3-pointers for 14 points. Saint Mary’s was 5 of 8 on 3s and 1 of 12 on 2s.
Gonzaga scored the first six points and Wedin’s 3-pointer made it 17-9 after one quarter. The Truongs both had a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter and Maxwell added one to get the lead to 14.
Gonzaga goes to Santa Clara on Thursday. Saint Mary’s is at Portland on Monday in a game rescheduled from Thursday when the game was postponed because of the weather in Portland.
PRINCETON 70, COLUMBIA 62 (MEN)
NEW YORK (AP) — Caden Pierce scored 21 points as Princeton beat Columbia 70-62 on Saturday.
Pierce had 11 rebounds for the Tigers (15-1, 3-0 Ivy League). Blake Peters scored 15 points, shooting 5 for 9 from beyond the arc. Toronto’s Xaivian Lee shot 6 for 15 to finish with 14 points, while adding six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. The Tigers picked up their sixth straight win.
Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa led the way for the Lions (9-7, 0-3) with 19 points and two steals. Avery Brown added 11 points for Columbia. Blair Thompson also recorded 10 points, two steals and two blocks.