Purdue roars past Tigers for Cancun Challenge title

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CANCUN, Mexico — Purdue had blown a significant lead and needed something positive to happen.

Carsen Edwards, in the middle of his breakout game as a Boilermaker, delivered, just before the halftime buzzer, pump-faking, then draining a step-back three-pointer as time expired.

It gave Purdue a halftime lead.

"We were running a play and I felt like I messed up on the play," Edwards said. "I just happened to get it and just tried to put the ball in the basket because I knew time was running out."

Purdue didn't know it at the time, but the play served as the start of the avalanche it rode to a 96-71 romp over Auburn and the championship of the Cancun Challenge.

The freshman's shot gave Purdue a two-point lead at halftime, after a double-digit lead quickly went by the wayside to end the first half.

It also may have served as the game's tipping point.

Purdue dominated the second half.

"We really got some momentum through our effort to start the second half," Coach Matt Painter said.

Blistering shooting, too.

Purdue made 9-of-12 second-half three-pointers, part of a game in which it shot an astronomical 17-of-26 from distance, good for better than 64 percent.

"Guys just played," forward Vincent Edwards said. "Coaches said, 'Stop thinking so much and just play, play hard.' We found a play they couldn't stop and just kept running it until they stopped it and they didn't."

Vincent Edwards shook off a scoreless first half and his recent struggles to pour in 15 after halftime, starring in the final 20 minutes, during which he was 5-for-5 from the floor.

"It was like the weight of the world off my shoulders," he said.

Edwards was the star of the second half. His namesake was the star of the night.

In his fifth college game, with a championship on the line, Carsen Edwards scored a team-best 21, sticking shots left and right, pushing the ball in the open floor and impacting the game defensively, snaring three steals. He was 7-of-11 from the floor, 4-of-5 from three-point range and his shots were impactful, most notably his first-half buzzer-beater.

Simply put, it was a breakout performance in every sense.

"It all just came in the flow of the game," Carsen Edwards said.

Point guard P.J. Thompson said Edwards "probably won the game for us."

The reality is a lot of things won this game for Purdue, but the freshman was certainly one of them.

"He's a shotmaker," Painter said. "Things worked out for him and he was able to get his head up. He made some shots early and then really was able to get into a flow. I thought he was really productive on both ends of the court."

Thompson he scored 15 on 6-of-9 shooting. Dakota Mathias continued his upward surge, making four more threes to go along with seven assists against just one turnover. Their red-hot shooting helped Purdue overcome 21 turnovers, leading to 25 Auburn points. Eight of those turnovers came off the hands of Isaac Haas, who struggled with the Tigers' swarming of him.

In spite of it, Haas joined Caleb Swanigan in recording a double-double, then in being named to the event's all-tournament team. Swanigan was named MVP, then left the building in a sombrero after a businesslike 14-point, 10-rebound game in which he made a pair of important three-pointers, too.

It was that kind of second half for Purdue, one that underscored the Boilermakers' belief in what they have long seen as significant offensive potential.

In some ways, Purdue beat Auburn at its own game, pushing the ball in the open floor and playing for quick shots as opposed to methodical halfcourt offense. Painter said he wanted a balance and got it.

Purdue was dominant offensively, solid defensively - it scored 21 points off 13 turnovers - and stifling on the glass, to the tune of a 39-23 advantage.

More than anything, Purdue was complete.

"Any time you can make shots and play defense the way we do, it kind of brings things together," Thompson said.