All the Gophers men’s basketball team wanted was to give itself a chance to beat Purdue in the second half of Thursday night’s game. The opportunity was there with the Gophers leading the No. 20 Boilermakers by one point early in the second half,

It may not be the same team that won the Big Ten the previous two seasons or appeared in the national championship game last year — two-time Naismith College Player of the Year Zach Edey has since moved on to the NBA — but this version of the Purdue Boilermakers is still plenty formidable.

The Boilermakers outscored the Gophers by 19 points in the second half to pull away for a 81-61 victory Thursday night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. Fletcher Loyer led the charge for Purdue with a game-high 24 points.

Preseason Big Ten title favorite Purdue was tested in the first half, but the Gophers looked overmatched and showed the gap is still too wide in an 81-61 loss to the No. 20 Boiler