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Purdue defeats Duke men's basketball in Phil Knight Legacy tournament championship game

Forget Duke or Gonzaga. It was Purdue that stole the show during this week’s Phil Knight Legacy basketball tournament.

After routing the No. 5 Bulldogs (84-66) in the semifinal round, the No. 23 Boilermakers (6-0) claimed the championship title with a 75-56 win over No. 10 Duke on Sunday at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.

The loss snaps a four-game win streak for the Blue Devils (6-2), who dropped to 0-2 this season against Top 25 opponents. They lost 69-64 to No. 3 Kansas at the Nov. 15 Champions Classic.

It was a tough week for the top teams during the holiday weekend tournaments: No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Kansas, No. 5 Gonzaga, No. 8 Creighton, No. 9 Arkansas and No. 10 Duke all suffered losses.

Led by 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey – the tallest player in Big Ten history – Purdue built a double-digit halftime lead and held off Duke’s late charge before a flurry of 3-pointers put the game away.

Edey finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds while Blue Devils freshmen Kyle Filipowski and Tyrese Proctor tried to chip away at Purdue’s second-half lead. Duke got within nine points with less than six minutes to play but failed to close the gap. The Blue Devils shot 27% from the field in the second half, including 0-for-11 from 3-point range.

Edey was named the tournament MVP. Proctor finished with 16 points while Filipowski and Jeremy Roach added 14 points each.

Duke shot 50% from the field in the first half but still trailed 46-35 at the break after Purdue’s 17-2 run stretched the lead to 30-18 midway through the period.

Duke opened the game by hitting six of its first eight shots but went 2-of-9 during the Boilermakers’ run. Freshman Dereck Lively II picked up three first-half fouls, and fellow big men Ryan Young and Filipowski were forced to operate with two, giving the Blue Devils limited options to defend Purdue’s sizeable frontcourt led by Edey.

Jeremy Roach suffers first-half injury

Duke junior guard Jeremy Roach left the game in the first half with a right foot injury.

Roach, who had 10 points before leaving the game, appeared to injure his foot during a loose ball tussle with a Purdue defender. He left the game and was treated on the bench before returning moments later. With under a minute before halftime, he went down again, holding his foot and limping to the sideline.

He was taken to the locker room but returned to start the second half with the Blue Devils trailing by double digits.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Purdue defeats Duke basketball at PK Legacy championship game