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Florida basketball falls to Purdue for first loss under Mike White

 
Purdue’s Vince Edwards, left, who finishes with 14 points, and Caleb Swanigan (50), who scores 12, get themselves pumped up en route to an 85-70 win over Florida at the Hall of Fame Tipoff.
Purdue’s Vince Edwards, left, who finishes with 14 points, and Caleb Swanigan (50), who scores 12, get themselves pumped up en route to an 85-70 win over Florida at the Hall of Fame Tipoff.
Published Nov. 23, 2015

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Florida was competitive for 30 minutes in its first test against a ranked team in the Mike White era.

But the Gators went cold down the stretch in an 85-70 loss Sunday to No. 21 Purdue in the finals of the Hall of Fame Tipoff tournament, their first loss under new coach Mike White.

Florida (3-1) trailed 63-60 when center John Egbunu hit a layup with 8:54 left. But sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers from P.J. Thompson and Dakota Mathias, Purdue responded with a 12-0 run to take a 75-60 lead with six minutes left.

Egbunu had 19 points, Dorian Finney-Smith 17 and KeVaughn Allen 12 for Florida, which had been outrebounding opponents by more than 16 per game but lost that battle 43-34.

"They had, it seemed like, six 7-footers, 7-6 dudes, and they knocked down every open shot," Finney-Smith said. "They played great team defense."

Rapheal Davis scored 18 to lead five players in double figures for the Boilermakers. Thompson had 15 points, Vince Edwards 14, Caleb Swanigan 12 and 7-foot-2 Isaac Haas 11.

"We've got a good group," said Thompson, who also had three assists and five rebounds. "We've got bigs that are physical and fundamental. We've got good shooters that we can sub in no matter which one of them gets going that day."

Purdue (5-0) led most of the way, shooting 50 percent from the floor and sinking 11 of 26 3-pointers. Thompson was 3-of-6 from long range and Edwards, Davis and Mathias each hit two 3-pointers.

It was a game of runs.

Edwards scored five during an 8-0 spurt that stretched a 45-42 lead to 11 early in the second half.

The Gators got back within three during a 7-0 run sparked when Egbunu fought Thompson for a loose ball and the pair went rolling across the floor attached to it. UF got the turnover and eventually cut a 59-49 deficit to 59-56.

Purdue wasn't challenged again after Mathias' 3-pointer launched its 12-0 run.

"Anytime we got the lead to double digits, they seemed to run it back to one possession," said Purdue coach Matt Painter, who is 5-0 for the fifth time in his 11 seasons at the school. "But each time that happened, our guys had an answer for it."

"Purdue is just really good," said White. "I'm not very pleased with a lot of the things we did, especially defensively, but the better team beat us."

MIAMI 85, NO. 22 BUTLER 75: Angel Rodriguez scored 19 and the Hurricanes took down their second straight ranked opponent for the Puerto Rico Tipoff championship in San Juan. Ja'Quan Newton added a career-high 17 points for Miami (5-0), which followed its romp over No. 16 Utah by building a big lead again then protecting it against a scoring burst from Kellen Dunham and the Bulldogs (3-1). Dunham scored 20 of his 23 after halftime, helping Butler trim a 19-point gap to four with about 31/2 minutes left. But the Hurricanes hit enough free throws to hang on.

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NO. 5 DUKE 86, G'TOWN 84: Grayson Allen bounced back nicely from a shoddy performance in Tuesday's loss to Kentucky with a career-high 32 points for the Blue Devils (4-1) in the 2K Classic championship at Madison Square Garden in New York.

NO. 11 VILLANOVA 75, AKRON 56: Josh Hart had a career-high 27 points and added nine rebounds to help the host Wildcats (4-0) fend off an early scare in the NIT Season Tipoff. Villanova trailed by as many as eight in the first half before turning the game with a 27-5.

NO. 12 ARIZONA 61, N'WESTERN ST. 42: Gabe York had 18 points for the Wildcats, who overcame 37 percent shooting from the field to extend the nation's longest active home winning streak to 42 games and move to 4-0 for the sixth straight season.

NO. 16 UTAH 74, TEMPLE 68: Jakob Poeltl had 32 points and 11 rebounds and made 4 of 4 free throws in the final 4.6 seconds, and Brandon Taylor hit the go-ahead shot with 28.4 seconds left for the Utes (4-1) in the third-place game at the Puerto Rico Tipoff.

NO. 25 OREGON 73, VALPO 67: Dillon Brooks had 26 points and 13 rebounds and Tyler Dorsey added 21 points for the host Ducks (4-0), who sealed the victory with four free throws in the final 28.6 seconds.

Women

NO. 6 FSU 84, UAB 44: Adut Bulgak tied a career high with 26 points and added 10 rebounds for the host Seminoles (2-1). Bulgak, an honorable mention for the preseason AP All-America team, has a double double in each of Florida State's games this season and 15 for her career.

NO. 2 S.C. 68, UCLA 65: Tiffany Mitchell had 17 points, including six in a deciding final run, and the visiting Gamecocks (4-0) struggled mightily before pulling away late. The Bruins effectively limited South Carolina's size advantage with their 2-3 zone.

NO. 5 BAYLOR 86, DEPAUL 72: Nina Davis had 20 points and 10 rebounds and was named tournament MVP after leading the host Bears (4-0) to a preseason WNIT championship win.

NO. 7 OHIO ST. 106, WAGNER 47: Ameryst Alston had 26 points and Kelsey Mitchell 24 for the host Buckeyes (2-2), who outscored the Seahawks 23-6 in the second quarter.

NO. 9 OREGON ST. 86, UC RIVERSIDE 65: Sydney Wiese had 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists and hit five 3-pointers to add to her school career record, leading the host Beavers (3-0).

NO. 13 KENTUCKY 86, COLORADO 61: Janee Thompson had 17 points and seven assists for the host Wildcats (4-0), who had a 14-0 run over the last five minutes of the first quarter and an 8-0 spurt to end the half.

NO. 14 DUKE 72, ARMY 61: Azura Stevens made 14 of 18 shots for a career-high 32 points, and the host Blue Devils (3-1) overcame a slow start.

NO. 17 OKLA. 79, BRADLEY 46: Kaylon Williams and Gabbi Ortiz scored 14 each for the visiting Sooners (3-1), who made 12 of 26 3-pointers.

NO. 20 N'WESTERN 86, W. MICH. 62: Ashley Deary had career bests of 25 points and 12 assists as the host Wildcats (3-0) broke open a one-point game late in the first half and cruised.

NO. 21 CAL 82, CAL POLY 57: Asha Thomas had 19 points, Mikayla Cowling had 17 and both hit four 3-pointers for the host Bears (4-0), who made 14 of 25 3-pointers.