Hammons Leads No. 20 Purdue Over No. 10 Maryland, 83-79
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- A.J. Hammons scored 19 points to lead five Purdue players in double figures, and the 20th-ranked Boilermakers held on for an 83-79 victory over No. 10 Maryland on Saturday.
Sophomore guard Dakota Mathias added a career-best 17 points for Purdue (22-7, 10-6 Big Ten), Rapheal Davis and Vince Edwards each scored 11 and Caleb Swanigan had 10 in Purdue's second victory over a Top 10 opponent in 18 days.
The Boilermakers defeated No. 6 Michigan State on Feb. 9. It is also Purdue's school record-tying 16th home victory this season.
Hammons made a free throw with 1:49 to go to break a 76-76 tie, and a layup by Johnny Hill made it 79-76 with 1:16 to go.
Davis and Edwards each made two free throws in the final 23.1 seconds to help the Boilermakers withstand a late charge from Maryland (23-6, 11-5).
Melo Trimble led the Terrapins with 19 points, Diamond Stone scored 18 and Jake Layman added 15.
The Terrapins used a 12-2 run to tie it at 76 on a layup by Layman at the 2:12 mark. That 12-2 burst was fueled by five Purdue turnovers in 2 minutes after building a 10-point lead.
A 9-3 burst helped Maryland cut the Purdue lead to 58-56 with 10:36 to play, but Swanigan hit a 3-pointer and a layup off a perfect pass from Mathias to push the lead to 63-56 with 9:49 left.
Purdue extended its lead to 71-62 with 6:02 left on a putback by Hammons and to 74-64 on a 3 by Hammons with 4:13 remaining.
With Mathias making five consecutive shots and scoring 12 first-half points, the Boilermakers led 44-39 through 20 minutes, during which they shot 57.6 percent from the field (19 of 33). Purdue outrebounded the Terrapins 21-9 in the first half.
TIP-INS:
Maryland: The Terrapins entered the game ranked first in blocked shots, second in scoring defense, field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage defense during Big Ten Conference games. ... In the past two seasons, the Terrapins are 20-3 in games decided by six points or less, which is the best among Division I teams.
Purdue: Since losing to Maryland on Jan. 10, 2015, the Boilermakers entered 21-1 in Mackey Arena, losing only to Iowa on Jan. 2, 2016. ... Before playing the Terrapins, Purdue had been outscored by 70 points as the result of turnovers in its seven defeats, losing those contests by a collective 59 points. ... The Boilermakers have won at least 20 games in eight of coach Matt Painter's 11 seasons at his alma mater.
UP NEXT:
Maryland: Hosts Illinois on Thursday.
Purdue: Travels to Nebraska on Tuesday.
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