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Edwards helps No. 3 Purdue hold off Rutgers, 78-76

Iowa State v Purdue

MILWAUKEE, WI - MARCH 18: Vince Edwards #12 of the Purdue Boilermakers attempts a shot over Nazareth Mitrou-Long #15 of the Iowa State Cyclones in the second half during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at BMO Harris Bradley Center on March 18, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

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PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Vincent Edward had 18 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and No. 3 Purdue held on to beat Rutgers 78-76 on Saturday for a school-record 19th straight win.

Mathis Dakota scored 16 points, Carsen Edwards had 13 and P.J. Thompson added 12 points for the Boilermakers (23-2, 12-0 Big Ten).

Corey Sanders had 31 points and seven rebounds, and Deshawn Freeman added 14 points and nine rebounds for Rutgers (12-13, 2-10), which overcame a 15-point first-half deficit looked poised to pull off an upset at home.

Freeman’s fastbreak dunk cut Purdue’s lead to six, forcing Boilermakers coach Matt Painter to call a timeout with 15:29 to go. However, Matt Bullock corralled a defensive rebound on the ensuing possession and hit Sanders with an outlet pass and he made the fastbreak layup and the foul shot to pull the Scarlet Knights to 46-43.

Rutgers pulled within one on two occasions. Shaquile Doorson had a put-back dunk off of Geo Baker’s missed layup to get to 48-47 with 12:28 left, and Freeman had a tip-in on a miss by Sanders to make it 55-54 with 8:06 remaining, However, that was as close as the Scarlet Knights got the rest of the way.

Rutgers took a 3-0 lead on a Issa Thiam 3-pointer. Purdue tied it 29 seconds later after Thiam fouled P.J. Thompson on a 3-pointer. Carsen Edwards stole the ball and hit a layup on Rutgers’ ensuing possession to give the Boilermakers their first lead. They led 38-27 at halftime.

BIG PICTURE

Purdue: The Boilermakers’ winning streak is the longest in the nation and has them atop the conference standings. They’ll look to improve their home winning streak to 22 -- the third-longest in school history -- when they host No. 17 Ohio State. A win would give them a bit of a cushion in what has become a three-team race for the Big Ten title between Purdue, Ohio State and No. 5 Michigan State.

Rutgers: Bruised and battered, Rutgers continues to struggle. With senior captain Mike Williams (ankle) out for the past two weeks and Eugene Omoruyi out for several weeks to recover from a knee injury suffered at Illinois, the undermanned Scarlet Knights fell to below .500 for the first time all season and have now lost five-straight, sitting alone at the bottom of the Big Ten.