Top-ranked Purdue pounds Jacksonville for 34th straight nonconference victory
In its last game, a victory over then-No. 1 Arizona, Purdue’s top three scorers – Zach Edey, Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer – combined for 75 points.
The win vaulted the Boilermakers to the top of the polls – again – and in their first game since ascending to No. 1, they didn’t need the overwhelming scoring support from the trio.
Instead, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Lance Jones and Myles Colvin provided the offensive spark as Purdue rolled to a 100-57 victory over Jacksonville before another sold-out crowd at Mackey Arena.
The victory was the program’s 34th straight nonconference win.
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PDF: Purdue-Jacksonville stats
Kaufman-Renn and Jones combined for 14 of the first 17 points as the Boilermakers quickly held a double-digit lead. Although the Dolphins cut the advantage to 29-22, Purdue wasn’t seriously threatened by the school best known for standout big man Artis Gilmore.
The Boilermakers led by 18 at halftime before scoring the first 12 points of the second half.
Jones had 16 points, Kaufman-Renn finished with a season-high 15 points, and Colvin had 11 on the strength of two 3-pointers and a poster-style dunk on a breakaway in the second half. The Boilermakers collected 13 dunks.
Edey, Smith, and Loyer totaled nine of Purdue’s 45 first-half points, but the Boilermakers didn’t need them. The production came from Kaufman-Renn, Jones and Colvin chipped in seven points during the first half.
Edey, who spent more than an hour after the game signing autographs, did reach double figures for the 63rd straight game, scoring 18 points on 8 of 8 shooting from the line.
PDF: Purdue-Jacksonville stats
NO LET UP
Before Thursday, here’s a list of who the Boilermakers played since Nov. 13.
Xavier, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Marquette, Texas Southern, Northwestern, Iowa, Alabama and Arizona. Throw out Texas Southern – which was in the NCAA tournament play-in game last season – and the Boilermakers went through a brutal stretch against some of the elite teams in the country this season.
Purdue could’ve come out flat after knocking off Arizona but didn’t, especially since this was the last game before the Christmas break. That’s a credit to the Boilermakers and their approach to the matchup against the Dolphins.
“For us, these are the type of teams we’ve lost to in March Madness,” Kaufman-Renn said. “For me, personally, I had just as much motivation going into this game as the Arizona game just because you don’t want that to happen again, and you have to put teams like this away early.”
Purdue didn’t need to bounce back from a loss but had to regroup following an emotional and spirited victory along with the players eyeing the upcoming break.
“A lot more difficult this year because of the gauntlet of games we’ve been through and the magnitude of the game we played against Arizona,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “Not to say the other games weren’t good, but in the lead-up to that, I thought our guys stepped up and played well in a big-time environment.”
PRODUCTIVE NIGHT
From Kaufman-Renn’s first shot, a successful 3-pointer, to a pair of free throws with 7:04 to play, the sophomore pieced together a solid offensive game on 6 of 9 shooting.
It’s the third time in the last six games Kaufman-Renn has reached double figures, giving opposing defenses another scoring option to worry about. When Edey is double-teamed in the post, it presents an opportunity for Kaufman-Renn.
“Trey was active,” Painter said. “He missed a couple of layups there or his numbers would be better. Trey was active on the glass, and I thought he was around the basketball.”
Jacksonville’s defense dictated the ball didn’t always find Edey, Smith and Loyer, giving Kaufman-Renn and Jones a chance to exploit one-on-one matchups.
“It’s kind of taking what the defense gives you,” Kaufman-Renn said. “I don’t think I’ve had specifically bad offensive games. I just think we’re so dominant as an offensive team.”
FINDING EASY BASKETS
For the first time this season, the Boilermakers collected 10 or more steals in back-to-back games. They had 10 steals in the win over Arizona and produced 14 on Thursday.
“We want to come out aggressive, get in the passing lanes, get in the gaps and try to get as many deflections as we can,” said Jones, one of three players with three steals. “When we get those deflections and steals, we want to get out in transition and create those early easy baskets.”
Against the Wildcats, Purdue scored 12 points directly off steals and the number increased to 17 on Thursday. The Boilermakers have scored 36 points off turnovers in the last two games, with 29 coming after steals.
The Boilermakers are more than equipped to score in the halfcourt, but they also need to find easy baskets, either in transition or with second-chance points.
“It’s so hard to beat a good team if you can’t offensive rebound or you can’t get in transition,” Painter said. “If you have to constantly score points in the halfcourt, even though I think we have a team that’s wired to do so, it’s still difficult against those grimy defensive teams that take care of the basketball.
“It’s a balance of things. Anytime you can take the defense and turn it into points or you can take a missed shot and turn it into points, I think it breaks the back of the defense.”
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