LOYER, SMITH LEAD NI. 3 PURDUE PAST NO. 1 ARIZONA

Zach Edey. AP Photo 

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Purdue knew it could count on Zach Edey's powerful inside presence.

Once Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith provided the outside game to go with it, the Boilermakers had all they needed to knock off No. 1 Arizona.

Loyer tied a career high with 27 points, Smith added 26 and No. 3 Purdue handed the Wildcats their first loss with a 92-84 victory Saturday.

Edey added 22 points and nine rebounds, with the 7-foot-4 All-American handling the middle while Smith and Loyer supplied the outside firepower in the Indy Classic.

“To be able to have three guys play at that level offensively, I think, really puts defenses in a bind enough to where they went to something they haven’t ran all year and that 3-2 matchup zone that they were playing,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “When they are worried about Zach, we have to have that balance. (Saturday) we had that balance.”

Loyer was 5 of 9 on 3-pointers and Smith was 4 of 7 while falling one point shy of his career high.

The Boilermakers (10-1) defeated a No. 1-ranked team for the first time since beating Arizona 72-69 on Nov. 25, 2000, which also was played in Indianapolis.

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Fletcher Loyer scored 27 points and Zach Edey added 23 points and 10 rebounds as No. 2 Purdue advanced to the Maui Invitational championship game with a 71-67 win over No. 7 Tennessee on Tuesday night in Honolulu.

Loyer and Edey combined for 50 of Purdue's 71 points, with Loyer, a sophomore, tying his career high. Trey Kaufman-Renn contributed eight points and eight rebounds for the Boilermakers (5-0).

Tennessee (4-1) was led by Dalton Knecht, who logged 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Jordan Gainey scored 15 points.

There were a total of 52 personal fouls called, 31 on the Volunteers. Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka fouled out for the Volunteers and Edey played just 26 minutes while finishing with four fouls.