WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. _ Shutting down one of the top offensive teams in the country for 25 minutes had the Gophers looking like they could steal a big road win Sunday afternoon at Purdue.
The No. 17 Boilermakers shot just 1-for-13 from 3-point range in the first half and trailed by 13 points in the second half, but upset-minded Minnesota just couldn't sustain that defensive effort in a 73-63 loss in front of 14,804 at Mackey Arena.
Big Ten leading scorer Carsen Edwards was just 1-for-9 shooting in the first half, but he finished with 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half for the Boilermakers (16-6, 9-2), who are tied with Michigan and Michigan State for the Big Ten lead.
"We did a lot of good things, but midway through the second half we stopped rebounding the basketball on the defensive side of it," Gophers coach Richard Pitino said. "We went cold at the wrong time _ and Edwards showed you why he's one of the better players in the country."
Edwards, who had 38 points and eight 3-pointers earlier in the week vs. Penn State, sparked a 21-2 second-half run with nine straight points, including his only 3-pointer of the game with 13 minutes to play.
After 16 3-pointers in a win Thursday, Purdue went just 5-for-24 from deep on Sunday, but it still shot 59 percent in the second half and won the rebounding battle 21-12 after trailing by a point at halftime.
Amir Coffey had 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field, including 16 points in the second half. Daniel Oturu had 13 of his 19 points in the first half for the Gophers (16-6, 6-5), who lost for the first time in three games.
"We got into a real bad offensive drought and couldn't hit a shot," said senior Jordan Murphy, who had 10 points, 10 rebounds and five turnovers. "We just have to avoid that and keep playing our game."
Coffey ignited a 19-5 run with 10 of his team's first 17 points in the second half. Oturu's putback gave the Gophers their biggest lead of the game at 47-34, but the turning point came when they were outscored 13-0 during a four-minute scoring drought.
A layup from Oturu gave Minnesota its last lead at 49-47 with 9:29 remaining. Purdue's back-to-back 3-pointers from Ryan Cline brought the crowd to its feet during an 8-0 run for a 55-49 advantage.
The Boilermakers, who shot 12-for-16 from inside the arc in the second half, really made their presence felt in the paint. Freshman Trevion Williams had 14 of his 16 points in the first half.
In the second half, Matt Haarms used his length and size at 7-foot-3 to disrupt Oturu and Murphy. Haarms had 15 points, eight rebounds and four of his five blocks in the second half.
Playing at Purdue was the first of eight potential Quadrant 1 games in Minnesota's last 10 regular season contests, including next week's rematch Wednesday against Wisconsin at home.
The Gophers' best victory so far was at Wisconsin on Jan. 3, but they also squandered a chance for a big road win falling 59-57 on a buzzer-beater at Michigan on Jan. 22.
"We haven't put together a full 40 minutes yet," senior Dupree McBrayer said. "We're all trying to find the balance. It's going to come. We're not worried. We're not panicking. We're all going to have good games at one time _ and it's going to be scary when we do."
