Sports

Purdue's Carsen Edwards (3) drives and is fouled by Villanova's Phil Booth (5) during the first half of a second round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 23, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Edwards leads Purdue to rout of reigning champ Villanova

By The Associated Press March 23, 2019 at 7:53pm

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Purdue’s Carsen Edwards says he was getting tired of answering questions about his shooting slump.

The Boilermakers’ junior star had all the answers Saturday night. He scored a career-high 42 points as Purdue knocked reigning national champion Villanova out of the NCAA Tournament in an 87-61 rout.

Matt Haarms added 18 points and nine rebounds for the third-seeded Boilermakers (25-9), who advanced to their third straight Sweet 16. Ryan Cline added 12 points, all on 3-pointers.

Eric Paschall had 19 for Villanova (26-10), which saw its quest for a third national title in the last four seasons end during the tournament’s first weekend. Fellow senior Phil Booth scored 15 points, putting him over 1,500 for his career.

Edwards has battled a sore back and coming into the tournament had hit just 32 percent from the floor in his previous 11 games.

Against Old Dominion in the first round he was not much better, scoring 26 points but on 7 for 23 from the floor and 4 for 12 from behind the arc.

He found the bottom of the net early and often against ‘Nova, making 12 of his 21 shots and nine 3-pointers on 16 attempts.

“I wouldn’t say I knew I had a career night until the game was over,” he said. “I was just so focused on trying to get the win, especially in games like this where you value every possession.”

Purdue shot 54 percent while holding Villanova to just 20 baskets on 58 shots (34 percent).

It was the worst tournament loss in Villanova’s storied NCAA Tournament history and the largest blowout of a defending champion in nearly three decades, dating back to Loyola-Marymount’s 149-115 dismantling of Michigan in 1990.

“This game is a humbling game,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We didn’t get up on Edwards early, didn’t get up on Cline early and when great shooters get hot, you’re in trouble.”

Purdue jumped out early, building a 13-point lead thanks to Edwards’ outside shooting and Haarms’ work down low.

The 7-foot-3 Dutchman towered over the shorter Wildcats, who didn’t start anyone over 6-8.

Purdue had nine 3-point baskets in the first half and a dunk by Haarms put the Boilermakers up 43-24 at intermission.

Another dunk from the Dutchman extended the lead to 35 in the second half. Villanova chipped away but the sixth seeded Big East champions did not have weapons to make it a game.

BIG PICTURE

Villanova: The Wildcats continued a five-year pattern that has seen them lose in the second round, win a national title, lose in the second round and win another national title. The Wildcats are 15-3 in NCAA Tournament games over that stretch.

Purdue: The win gives the Boilermakers 25 victories for the fourth straight season. Purdue had only done that once before, between 2008 and 2011.

XLING

Edwards’ nine 3-pointers was a record for a game in Hartford’s XL Center. The previous mark of eight was held by the most prolific 3-point shooter in NBA history, Ray Allen, when he played for UConn.

“That’s crazy,” Edwards said. “I’m blessed to be able to shoot the ball like that and to make 3s like that.”

ONE MORE STEP

Purdue coach Matt Painter said as proud as he is of the consistency it takes to make it to the regional semifinals three years in a row, he’s not looking at that as a great accomplishment.

“You know you’re greedy as a coach,” he said. “You look at it like you didn’t advance further; you should have played better in conference play. We’re excited about going to the Sweet 16, but we want to do better. We want to do better for ourselves and our fans.”

UP NEXT

The Boilermakers will face the winner of Sunday’s game between Iowa and Tennessee.

___

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/MarchMadness and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25

The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

Submit a Correction →

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:

Sports, WJ Wire

The Associated Press

SummaryMore Biographical InformationRecent PostsContact

The Associated Press is an independent, not-for-profit news cooperative headquartered in New York City. Their teams in over 100 countries tell the world’s stories, from breaking news to investigative reporting. They provide content and services to help engage audiences worldwide, working with companies of all types, from broadcasters to brands. Photo credit: @AP on Twitter

@AP

Facebook

The Associated Press was the first private sector organization in the U.S. to operate on a national scale. Over the past 170 years, they have been first to inform the world of many of history's most important moments, from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the fall of the Shah of Iran and the death of Pope John Paul.

Today, they operate in 263 locations in more than 100 countries relaying breaking news, covering war and conflict and producing enterprise reports that tell the world's stories.

Location

New York City