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Edwards scores 23, No. 14 Purdue shakes off Illinois 73-56

Illinois Purdue Basketball

Purdue guard Carsen Edwards (3) has his shot blocked by Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu, left, while shooting next to Illinois guard Alan Griffin (0) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in West Lafayette, Ind., Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019. Purdue won 73-56. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

AP

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Carsen Edwards broke out of a shooting slump to score 23 points, and No. 14 Purdue got its fourth straight victory, 73-56 over Illinois on Wednesday night.

Edwards went 8 of 14 from the field for the Boilermakers (21-7, 14-3 Big Ten), who moved into a tie atop the conference with No. 6 Michigan State. The All-American guard made 7 of his 40 attempts in the previous two games.

Matt Haarms had 21 points on 8-of-8 shooting, 10 rebounds and five blocks for Purdue.

Ayo Dosunu and Andres Feliz led cold-shooting Illinois (10-18, 6-11) with nine points apiece. Illinois shot 32.8 percent overall and 27.6 percent from 3-point range.

Illinois led the back-and-forth game 33-32 at halftime and rallied to tie it at 48 with 9:43 remaining. Then Edwards and Haarms took over as the Boilermakers scored 12 straight points. Illinois got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

The Boilermakers held a 36-27 advantage on the boards.

BIG PICTURE

Illinois showed some depth, with 26 bench points to Purdue’s two, but still lost its third straight, squandering a chance to earn a signature win.

Purdue remains in the hunt for its 24th Big Ten championship.