Purdue holds off Vermont for first-round win

MILWAUKEE — Vincent Edwards scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and Purdue held off Vermont 80-70 on Thursday night for its first victory in the NCAA Tournament in five years.

Caleb Swanigan added 16 points, 14 rebounds and four assists for the fourth-seeded Boilermakers (26-7), who were upset by Arkansas-Little Rock in double-overtime in the first round of last year’s tournament. Dakota Mathias made three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.

Next up for Purdue is a second-round game against the winner of Nevada-Iowa State.

“It feels good but I don’t think we want to stop here,” Mathias said. “We play a good opponent the next game, have a quick turnaround, we’ve got to take care of ourselves and get back at it.”

It was Vermont’s first loss of 2017. The Catamounts (29-6), the regular-season and tournament champions in the America East, had the nation’s longest active win streak at 21 games. But they were unable to make up for a huge disadvantage inside against the bigger, stronger Boilermakers.

Anthony Lamb had 20 points and nine rebounds for Vermont, and Trae Bell-Haynes finished with 15 points, seven boards and six assists.

With Swanigan and 7-foot-2 center Isaac Haas, Purdue had a huge size advantage around the rim. But the Catamounts played tough perimeter defense, turning post passes into a risky proposition, and stayed right with the Boilermakers with opportunistic baskets on offense.

But the combination of Edwards and Swanigan was too much to overcome down the stretch. Edwards scored Purdue’s first eight points of the second half, helping the Boilermakers open a 45-38 lead.

Every time Vermont made a charge in the second half, Purdue had an answer.

Darren Payen made a jumper and Ernie Duncan hit a 3 to get the Catamounts within one before Swanigan responded with a 3 for the Boilermakers. A jumper by Lamb trimmed Purdue’s lead to five, but Carsen Edwards and P.J. Thompson each hit a 3 to give the Boilermakers a 76-65 advantage with 1:56 remaining.

The Boilermakers finished with a 38-28 rebounding advantage and outscored the Catamounts 42-24 in the paint. It was their first NCAA Tournament win since they beat Saint Mary’s in the first round in 2012.

“It’s nice to get that monkey off our back,” Mathias said.

AILING

Vermont senior Kurt Steidl left in the first half with a left leg injury. Steidl went down after he jumped out to defend a 3-point attempt with about 2 minutes left in the first half. A trainer worked on his leg for a short while before the swingman was helped to the locker room, walking on his own, but with a pronounced limp.

BIG PICTURE

Vermont: The Catamounts shot 52 percent in the second half, but they allowed the Boilermakers to shoot 55.2 percent after the break.

Purdue: The Boilermakers had eight turnovers in the first half and two in the second half. If they can take care of the ball the way they did after the break, they will be one tough out with their imposing front line.

UP NEXT

The Boilermakers will face the Wolf Pack or Cyclones in the second round on Saturday.

Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap