BASKETBALL

Carsen Edwards' huge game can't lift Purdue basketball past Texas

Carsen Edwards tied a career high with 40 points in his return to his home state, but the Longhorns held on for a 72-68 victory.

Nathan Baird
Journal & Courier
  • Saturday's game: Purdue vs. Notre Dame in Crossroads Classic, 1:30 p.m., CBS
  • Edwards made 15 of 26 field goals and 3 of 3 free throws and scored 28 of his 40 after halftime.
  • Purdue made 2 of 16 from 3 in the first half, and 7 of 16 in the second half.
  • The Boilermakers committed only six turnovers, and only one in the first 18:53.
Purdue guard Carsen Edwards takes a long jump shot against Texas during the second half Sunday night.

AUSTIN, Texas — Purdue guard Carsen Edwards dazzled on his return to his home state of Texas on Sunday.

Even his 40-point effort, however, could not overcome the Boilermakers' other offensive struggles and the uncharacteristic shooting success of Texas. Matt Coleman scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Longhorns to a 72-68 victory at the Erwin Center.

Edwards matched his previous career high, set last season at Illinois. He scored 28 of those points in the second half, making 15 of 26 shots overall and 7 of 13 from 3-point range. After a couple of tough shooting performances in a row, the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year carried the Boilermakers in long stretches as they attempted to pull ahead in the second half.

"I just wanted to win," Edwards said. "If I had had a bad performance and we had won, that would sit better with me."

Dec 9, 2018; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns captures the rebound as Purdue Boilermakers guard Carsen Edwards (3) defends during the second half at Frank Erwin Center. Mandatory Credit: John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

Coleman, however, kept answering down the stretch. The Longhorns also made 45 percent of their 3-pointers and hit 15 of 16 free throws to end their three-game losing streak.

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Outside of Edwards, the rest of the Boilermakers shot 30.7 percent. Ryan Cline scored seven points on 3 of 12 shooting, hitting 1 of 9 from 3.

Purdue coach Matt Painter took exception to a non-call when Aaron Wheeler dribbled the ball out of bounds with under five seconds to play. Painter felt the Texas player Wheeler made contact with was not in a legal guarding position and should have been called for a foul which would have sent Wheeler to the line down 70-68.

Instead, Purdue fouled Elijah Mitrou-Long at the other end, and he made two free throws to clinch it.

Purdue's deep depression

Dec 9, 2018; Austin, TX, USA; Purdue Boilermakers forward Grady Eifert (24) rebounds the ball against the Texas Longhorns at Frank Erwin Center. Mandatory Credit: John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

Purdue's 38.2 percent 3-point shooting percentage coming in ranked in the top 50 nationally. Texas, at 28.9 percent, ranked among the bottom 50 teams in Division I.

So guess which team suffered through a miserable perimeter shooting effort in the first half?

Purdue left Texas' Dylan Osetkowski all alone on the game's opening possession, and he hit an easy 3. Edwards responded on the other end to tie it. Then the Boilermakers missed their next 12 attempts behind the arc — finishing the first half 2 of 16, not including Nojel Eastern's desperation heave at the buzzer.

Texas, meanwhile, made 6 of 15 from five different players. Only once in its first eight games had it made even one-third of its 3-pointers. While Purdue wanted the Longhorns taking a lot of jump shots, even mediocre shooters could capitalize on some of the space allowed in the first half.

"I didn't think we did a great job of keeping the ball out of the paint in the first half, and early in the second half we didn't either," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "That really opens up a lot of things for them. They get some drives, get some layups, get some lobs, but it also gets them some 3s because you have to over-help to stop that."

Purdue turned the ball over only twice in the first half, compared to nine times for Texas. The Boilermakers simply couldn't hit enough shots to take advantage. The Longhorns led 36-31 at halftime. If Purdue had shot a terrible 25 percent from 3 instead of an abysmal 12.5 percent, it would have led at the break.

The Boilermakers shot at a more customary 43.8 percent clip after halftime. Texas continued to run offense deep into the shot clock and kept hitting with uncharacteristic accuracy. Coleman made 3 of 5, including a couple of big ones late.

"Some of them I feel like maybe we broke down on defense and they had a wide-open look," Edwards said. "At this level, a wide-open look, I'm pretty sure they'll make them."

Texas turning point

Dec 9, 2018; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Jase Febres (13) looks to pass the ball as Purdue Boilermakers guard Carsen Edwards (3) defends during the first half at Frank Erwin Center. Mandatory Credit: John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

Edwards opened the second half with a personal 7-0 run to push Purdue to a 38-36 lead and force a Texas timeout.

That, however, was the only real spurt the Boilermakers could put together for much of the second half. When those surges came, they typically came in the form of Edwards taking over the game for a stretch.

Texas led 55-49 before Edwards hit a 3 with about eight minutes to play. The Longhorns turned it over in transition, and Edwards picked up the loose ball and took it in for a layup. Soon after, when an Edwards pass was deflected back out to him, he calmly drained a deep 3 from the east-central portion of the map of Texas at midcourt.

Texas led 60-57 inside of five minutes. Thanks to two Grady Eifert rebounds, Purdue kept a possession alive long enough for Edwards to bury another game-tying 3.

Matt Coleman's fantastic game for Texas included a 3 with 2:27 left for a 67-62 lead. Ryan Cline, who had been 0-for-7 from 3 and 0-for-13 going back to the start of the Maryland game, responded with his own 3 to keep it a one-possession game.

Coleman came back for a floater in the lane with 43.8 seconds left to make it a four-point game. Edwards scored his 40th point on a 3 at the top of the key with 32.9 left, cutting the Texas lead to 69-68.

But Texas closed both halves strong at the free throw line, hitting 7 of 8 in the final 3:33. 

Purdue also struggled to slow Longhorns freshman forward Jaxson Hayes, who didn't miss a shot while scoring 14 points.

Carsen Edwards' homecoming game

Edwards was heard after Friday's practice asking his teammates if they had an extra tickets he could use for Sunday's game. The junior grew up about three hours north in the Houston suburb of Atascocita.

Edwards called it "just another game" to reporters, though he looked forward to seeing family and friends. Such opportunities are rare in-season, apart from maybe a quick trip over the holidays or the occasional parental visit to West Lafayette. His mother, Carla, was at the season opener against Fairfield last month.

Edwards received a warm ovation when announced, but so did the rest of the Boilermakers. The announced crowd of 10,048 included a decent percentage rooting for either Purdue or Edwards or both.

Contact Journal & Courier Purdue men's basketball insider Nathan Baird at nbaird@jconline.com or 765-420-5234. Follow on Twitter: @nbairdjc

TEXAS 72, PURDUE 68

PURDUE (6-4) — Eifert 0-0 0-0 0, Haarms 4-7 2-2 10, Edwards 15-26 3-3 40, Eastern 2-3 0-2 4, Cline 3-12 0-0 7, Wheeler 2-8 0-0 5, Boudreaux 1-5 0-0 2, Stefanovic 0-2 0-0 0, Hunter 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-65 5-7 68.

TEXAS (6-3) — Osetkowski 2-5 0-0 5, Sims 0-1 0-0 0, Roach 2-6 4-4 10, Febres 1-3 0-0 3, Coleman 7-11 5-6 22, Hayes 6-6 2-2 14, Hepa 1-6 2-2 5, Ramey 1-3 0-0 3, Mitrou-Long 3-6 2-2 10. Totals 23-47 15-16 72.

Halftime—Texas 36-31. 3-Point Goals—Purdue 9-32 (Edwards 7-14, Wheeler 1-4, Cline 1-9, Boudreaux 0-1, Stefanovic 0-2, Haarms 0-2), Texas 11-24 (Coleman 3-5, Mitrou-Long 2-3, Roach 2-4, Osetkowski 1-2, Ramey 1-2, Febres 1-3, Hepa 1-5). Fouled Out—Eastern. Rebounds—Purdue 26 (Eastern 5), Texas 29 (Febres 6). Assists—Purdue 6 (Edwards, Cline 3), Texas 17 (Roach 5). Total Fouls—Purdue 19, Texas 11.

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