Zach Edey scores 30 as No. 1 Purdue surges past Penn State

PHILADELPHIA — Zach Edey scored 30 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and helped a furious 12-0 run to start the second half as No. 1 Purdue rallied to defeat Penn State, 76-63, before a soldout crowd at the Palestra on Sunday night.

Despite Jalen Pickett’s 26 points, Penn State (11-5, 2-3 Big Ten) fell to 0-13 lifetime when facing the top-ranked team in the nation.

Pickett scored 18 of his points in the first half, ending the session with an up-and-under shovel past Edey’s outstretched arms that gave the Nittany Lions a 37-31 advantage at the halftime buzzer.

The Nittany Lions shot just 11 for 30 from the floor in the second half and 2 of 10 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Fletcher Loyer scored 17 points, and Braden Smith added 15 to help the Boilermakers improve to 15-1 overall and post back-to-back road conference wins after Monday’s home loss to Rutgers knocked Purdue from the ranks of the undefeated.

Edey, a 7-foot-4 junior center, was a nightmare from the start for the Nittany Lions. He scored Purdue’s first six points of the game, drew double teams most of the night and was able to move the ball from the low block.

Purdue took the game over in the second half, shooting 66.7% from the floor (18 of 27). The Boilermakers held the Nittany Lions scoreless for the first four minutes of the period. Edey scored 18 of his points in the second half while Loyer had 14 in the second half.

The Nittany Lions’ bid to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011 would have received a huge boost with a win over Purdue. They have two games against ranked teams in the next nine days — at home against No. 15 Indiana and a trip to No. 14 Wisconsin on Jan. 17 — that would go a long way to helping Penn State’s resume.

This was the third time Penn State has brought a Big Ten game to the Palestra as a home team. The Nittany Lions average just fewer than 6,000 people in nine home games at Bryce Jordan Center in State College. They drew 8,700 on Sunday night even with competition on the Philadelphia Eagles-New York Giants game six miles down the road at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Nittany Lions will host No. 15 Indiana on Wednesday night.