Takeaways Purdue romp over IU

In a needed win that may have been as cathartic as it was emphatic, No. 7 Purdue routed rival Indiana 93-64 Friday night, settling for a season split with the Hoosiers

Our GoldandBlack.com post-game analysis from the win …

PDF: Purdue-Indiana box score

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TREY KAUFMAN-RENN AS SCORING FOUNDATION

Trey Kaufman-Renn‘s dominance vs. Indiana came in one of his few games this season in which he acted as Purdue’s scoring centerpiece as he did last season. Look what happened. Kaufman-Renn scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting with five assists and no turnovers. Purdue’s first six points came off threes created by TKR post touches.

A player who nearly led the Big Ten in scoring last season has contributed profoundly as a rebounder and passer, etc., all season, but this is the Kaufman-Renn Purdue has been missing this season as it has played bigger lineups, needing more size and rebounding kick than it might have playing Kaufman-Renn at center, where he’s best offensively. Purdue had to go with traditional size, but considering that rebounding has not been a consistent, every-game advantage vs. top opponents, it does raise the question of whether Kaufman-Renn’s elite scoring punch might have been a marginalized asset to this point.

People have still guarded him as a lethal scorer, but the numbers haven’t been there.

Perhaps this IU game is a jumping-off point for getting things rolling.

Offense has not been Purdue’s problem when there have been problems, but more high-efficiency offense that taxes opponents physically is never a bad thing, and when opponents help on Kaufman-Renn on the block, that unlocks Braden Smith and Purdue’s shooters around him even more.

Purdue has shot a lot of threes this season for a variety of reasons, but on Friday night, low-volume three-point shooting off playing through the post was deadly.

PURDUE’S DEFENSIVE POTENTIAL

When Purdue is good on defense, it is really good. Tonight, Purdue was really good.

Lamar Wilkerson is the Big Ten’s leading scorer. He had two points and three turnovers, and no field goals, at half, before cleaning up his stats in garbage time. Wilkerson’s a tremendous player and Purdue flat shut him out as long as it needed to in order to blow this game open.

Tucker DeVries made some tough shots, but there’s no way Indiana is OK with him having gotten just six shots off. IU wanted him finding mismatches against size and exploiting them. Purdue barely allowed only; in the meantime, it hunted DeVries on defense, beat him up and that’s part of stopping a scorer, too.

Lastly, turnovers. Purdue doesn’t force a ton of them, but is so efficient turning them into points that that in itself might decide an occasional close game. Eleven turnovers is a number Indiana can probably live with; but Purdue’s 16 points off those turnovers probably isn’t.

FOUL DIFFERENTIAL WAS A BIG DEAL

This was one of the games this season in which Purdue’s size advantage was a big, big deal. IU does not have great size and the Boilermakers made it look even smaller. That matchup problem coupled with Braden Smith buried Indiana in fouls.

The foul differential is deceiving. It ended up at only 22-19, courtesy of garbage time, but the first half was an avalanche against Indiana.

It’s the old Purdue model: Leverage size, race to the bonus and do damage at the line. Purdue was 17-of-25 at the stripe, not that it didn’t leave some meat on the bone there in the form of Kaufman-Renn missing four and Jack Benter missing a one-and-one.

OMER MAYER IS SURGING

Freshman guard Omer Mayer is a better player today than he was the majority of the season. Funny how that works with freshmen. But Mayer might be peaking at a great time.

His catch-and-shoot ability has been exceptional for a player who came up with the ball in his hands overseas. Mayer is shooting 38 percent on the season, probably exceeding expectations of him. Mayer’s fared well defensively — Purdue trusted him with Tucker DeVries Friday night — and isn’t committing the same freshman turnovers he was at the start of the year. Again, it’s all part of the process.

Yes, Mayer’s productivity came mostly in garbage time, but regardless of context, you’re seeing a player who can be great.