If one puzzled why No. 2 Purdue was ranked atop the primary Related Press High 25, the Boilermakers delivered an emphatic reminder on Thursday night time.
Trey Kaufman-Renn made his season debut with 19 factors and 15 rebounds. Braden Smith regarded like a nationwide Participant of the 12 months in a 21-point second half. And Purdue left No. 8 Alabama a loser for the third straight season with an 87-80 highway win that might have main seeding implications in March.
Now what can the Boilermakers do for an encore Sunday night time when a sneaky good Akron crew ventures into West Lafayette, Ind. for one more nonconference contest?
A technique for Purdue to again up its wonderful displaying towards the Crimson Tide is for Kaufman-Renn to proceed pounding the boards. He hauled down eight offensive rebounds, serving to the crew earn a 52-28 general benefit on the glass.
“I do know on the 4 place, coach (Matt Painter) is wanting me to rebound extra,” he stated after the win in Tuscaloosa. “I confirmed him I might right now.”
It wasn’t simply Kaufman-Renn. As Alabama coach Nate Oats ruefully famous, Smith additionally outboarded his complete beginning frontcourt along with his scoring outburst. Going plus 24 on the boards gave the Boilermakers (3-0) sufficient cushion to afford committing 4 extra turnovers.
“You are placing your self in a fairly good place,” Painter stated of dominating the glass. “Our facilities did a very good job between them; they’d 18 rebounds in 40 minutes. TK obtained 15 in 34 minutes and I feel that is the distinction.”
Smith enters this sport averaging 18.3 factors and eight assists per sport, whereas Fletcher Loyer provides 17.3 ppg. Painter’s two-headed heart, South Dakota State switch Oscar Cluff and 7-4 Daniel Jacobsen, groups to attain 18 factors and seize 15 boards per sport.
In the meantime, Akron (3-0) involves city averaging 99.3 ppg with back-to-back 100-point outings on the scoreboard. That features a 109-51 blowout of Penn State-Shenango Wednesday night time that noticed 13 Zips get into the scoring column.
Amani Lyles leads a balanced assault with 16 factors and seven.7 rebounds per sport, whereas Shammah Scott contributes 14.3 ppg and is canning 40.9% of his 3-pointers. He is coming off an 18-point, eight-rebound, four-assist outing Wednesday night time.
Akron coach John Groce, who is aware of one thing about enjoying in Mackey Enviornment from his years teaching at Illinois, stated the journey to Purdue is a superb alternative for his crew.
“It’s going to be a fantastic problem for our guys,” he stated. “Purdue is powerful, powerful, deep and coach Painter does an excellent job. We’ll be able to compete when that ball goes up at 7:30 Sunday night time.”
This would be the first highway sport for the Zips, who began the 12 months with house wins over James Madison and Princeton. They carved up the Tigers, a perennial Ivy League energy, for 104 factors.
“I feel that is the deepest crew we have had since I have been right here,” Groce stated. “Guys have been turning down good photographs for excellent photographs, enjoying the correct method.”
The Boilermakers have gained each earlier matchups of the applications, although they have not performed in 25 seasons.
–Subject Stage Media
