Braden Smith registered a double-double of 26 points and 14 assists and Oscar Cluff scored 23 points, as No. 5 Purdue defeated Penn State 93-85 on Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind., to extend its winning streak to seven games.
Fletcher Loyer added 17 points for the Boilermakers, and C.J. Cox chipped in 16.
Sparked by 3-pointers from Smith and Cox, Purdue (15-1, 5-0 Big Ten) opened the second half on a 10-3 run to start to create distance from pesky Penn State (9-7, 0-5). The Nittany Lions shot 55.2% after halftime compared to 59.3% in the first half.
Penn State continued to challenge down the stretch after trailing by as many as 14 in the second half.
Freddie Dilione V paced the Nittany Lions with 25 points on 10-for-20 shooting. He has scored at least 23 points in three of the past six games.
Nittany Lions leading scorer Kayden Mingo and 6-foot-9 reserve Tibor Mirtic missed the game with injuries.
Melih Tunca (14 points) and Eli Rice (11) also scored in double figures for Penn State.
Purdue avenged last year’s upset loss to Penn State when it was a top-10 team but it wasn’t easy, as the Nittany Lions stuck around behind strong outside shooting.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half. Purdue took a 45-44 lead into the break while overcoming Penn State’s 8-for-17 effort from deep, which included two makes apiece from Josh Reed, Rice and Tunca.
Tunca banked in a trey with 2:59 remaining before halftime to draw Penn State within three and stop an 11-0 Boilermakers run.
Smith was 7-for-10 shooting in the first half to lead all scorers with 17 points.
The Nittany Lions outrebounded the Boilermakers 28-27 behind 10 boards from Ivan Juric. Trey Kaufman-Renn had nine rebounds for Purdue and Cluff added seven.
Penn State has lost to ranked conference foes Michigan State, Illinois, Michigan and Purdue by 22 combined points after falling by 41 at Indiana in its league opener.
–Field Level Media
