Second-half surge ignites No. 6 Purdue past Minnesota

After what can be best described as a methodical first 20 minutes, the Boilermakers delivered a stretch worthy of their position in the national landscape.

Oscar Cluff and Trey Kaufman-Renn dominated inside. Fletcher Loyer finds his shooting touch from the perimeter. C.J. Cox contributes at both ends. And Braden Smith’s teammates matched his first-half energy and took control of this Big Ten matchup against Minnesota.

Sixth-ranked Purdue put the Golden Gophers in a headlock during the first seven minutes of the second half and cruised to an 85-57 victory before another sellout at Mackey Arena.

The Boilermakers finished the December portion of the conference schedule at 2-0, including the Dec. 2 win at Rutgers.

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PURDUE COACH MATT PAINTER

PURDUE’S TREY KAUFMAN-RENN AND OSCAR CLUFF

MINNESOTA COACH NIKO MEDVED

After what Iowa State did inside Mackey Arena five days ago, Purdue needed to take out its frustrations on Minnesota and first-year coach Niko Medved.

The Boilermakers scored 21 straight points after halftime and outscored the Gophers 29-2 during the first nine minutes to seize control. Coach Matt Painter’s team scored from every position, and its defense and rebounding helped fuel the surge.

The run featured 20 points in the paint and three 3-point field goals.

Smith contributed in every category. The senior point guard totaled 15 points, 12 assists, six rebounds, five steals, and two blocks in 32 energy-filled minutes. Kaufman-Renn added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Cluff contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Back in the first half, Purdue had built a 27-15 lead with 6:04 on the clock, but couldn’t extend the advantage. That allowed Minnesota to stay connected, and it started the close the gap.

The Gophers finished the first half hitting 6 of 8 field goals and used a 17-8 spurt to pull within 35-32. But Minnesota missed its first eight attempts in the second half, and Purdue pounced.

The Boilermakers return to action Saturday against Marquette at Mackey Arena.

LOCKED IN DEFENSIVELY

Following the 23-point loss to Iowa State, Painter emphasized his team needed to respond when facing the Golden Gophers.

The response came at the start of the second half.

It began with an improved defensive effort and a desire to control the rebounding and fed into the transition game as the Boilermakers started to impose their will.

“I just think we did a better job in the second half of locking into what they’re trying to do defensively,” Kaufman-Renn said. “We’re able to get out in transition. Luckily, they went to the zone and were fine with me shooting floaters for some reason.”

Coming off a 1 of 8 shooting performance against the Cyclones, Kaufman-Renn made 7 of 11 field goals and regained his shooting touch. His teammates followed Kaufman-Renn’s lead as Purdue scored 50 points and shot 63.3% in the second half.

The short-handed Gophers couldn’t keep up once the Boilermakers found their rhythm.

“I thought our guys had a great mentality in the first half,” Medved said. “I really liked the way our guys responded at the end of the first half, but you knew a championship-caliber team would do that.

“They really picked up their defense and their mentality in the second half. We didn’t respond very well to that. I thought they wore us down.”

The attention to detail and focus on defense and rebounding were the elements that triggered the impressive run. Purdue was +23 on the boards for the game, spurred by a 24-8 advantage in the second half.

“You can’t go on runs like that unless you get stops,” Painter said. “We worked really hard on how hard they cut and how they get to it. When we stayed disciplined in that area, it really helped us.

“The start of the second half, we got in a groove. I thought our hand activity and our ability to dominate the glass, getting stops, getting rebounds, and getting in transition. We had a good run there.”

“I THOUGHT HE WAS GREAT”

Smith touched nearly every inch of Keady court.

From baseline to baseline. From side to side. He jumped on the floor for loose balls. He chased down long rebounds.

Purdue’s talented point guard was active in just about every phase. The numbers Smith posted stand out but he reached those marks with a high-energy approach that brought his teammates along for the ride.

“The whole team feeds off that energy,” Kaufman-Renn said. “When one of your captains is doing that, it makes everybody else want to do that as well.”

Painter credited Smith’s activity on the defensive end, collecting steals, getting deflections, and always being around the basketball. Smith was engaged, despite spraining his left hand/wrist early in the game.

“I thought he was great,” Painter said. “I bet he was around the basketball the whole night.”

The days after the loss to Iowa State, Cluff said the team’s veteran leadership was “huge” in making sure one loss didn’t become two. And it started with Smith and his presence from the opening tip.

“Braden, with five steals and two blocks, he was showing us what we need to do, pretty much,” Cluff said.

“CHAMPIONS GET OFF THE CANVAS”

The Boilermakers didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on the loss that knocked them out of the top spot in the AP poll. And that was a good thing.

“I always tell them, champions get off the canvas,” Painter said. “Everybody gets knocked down, but what do you do after you get knocked down? It was really good to play a game and get back out there, because it’s frustrating.

“These guys sacrifice a lot. They put a lot of time into it. You got a top-10 game; we didn’t show up. A lot of that had to do with Iowa State.”

In the big picture of what Purdue is trying to accomplish this season, Wednesday’s win over Minnesota takes on more importance than the loss to the Cyclones. The victory over the Gophers keeps the Boilermakers atop the league standings.

“You can say you have a lot of goals, but you have two goals – win the Big Ten, win a national championship,” Painter said.  “When you can’t do either one of those, and your season’s over, then be upset. But get it figured out and move to the next game.”