Purdue basketball relies on recent defense calling card to bury Rutgers' dynamic duo

Purdue basketball relies on recent defense calling card to bury Rutgers’ dynamic duo

Posted by author January 10, 2025 Basketball

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PISCATAWAY, N.J. − Purdue basketball‘s calling card of late was what the Boilermakers again hung their hat on.

Woeful shooting from 3-point range and the free-throw line was offset by what the Boilers did on the defensive end.

No. 19 Purdue held Rutgers to 32.7% shooting and, again, put its opponent away in the latter quarter of the game in a 68-50 victory at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

After opening the Big Ten season with a loss at Penn State, the Boilermakers (12-4) have now rattled off four straight conference victories and won their fourth game overall in a row Thursday night.

Purdue’s chance to separate itself in the first half was plagued by a 2 for 13 performance from beyond the arc and 3 of 8 on free-throw shooting.

Despite 12 first-half turnovers, Rutgers outscored the Boilermakers by three at the line and outscored Purdue 9-0 in second chance points to keep the deficit at single digits.

Eventually, though, a deep ball would fall that provided the gap to nail down a win in a raucous road environment.

Purdue basketball turning point

Though Purdue never trailed, the Boilermakers let Rutgers hang around longer than they should have.

That goes back to the perimeter shots not falling. The Boilermakers were 3 for 19 with 10:28 to go when an unlikely 3 fell from one of the guys struggling most from beyond the arc.

Gicarri Harris, who came into Thursday’s game 6 of 31 from 3, drained a right-wing 3 that put Purdue ahead 49-41. That bucket sparked a 9-0 Boilermaker run.

Trey Kaufman-Renn, who played limited minutes for three quarters of the contest, got going late to finish with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

Boilermakers against Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey

After facing the nation’s second-highest scoring duo in Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli and Brooks Barnhizer on Sunday, Purdue upped the challenge level facing the No. 1 tandem in college basketball.

Rutgers’ freshmen Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey entered Thursday’s game averaging a combined 40.1 points.

Against the Boilers, the potential future NBA lottery picks scored a combined 23 points on 7-of-24 shooting.

3 stars

Caleb Furst, Purdue: The lone Boilermaker senior continues to gain confidence and be a difference maker. This time, matched up initially with Bailey, Furst provided five points in the opening half, including a poster dunk on the future lottery pick. It was his block of Jordan Derkack in the late stages, challenging a drive while having three fouls, that led to a Loyer runner on the other end where it finally felt like Purdue was pulling away. Furst had seven points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Fletcher Loyer, Purdue: It didn’t take Loyer long to make his second shot and secure his 1,000th-career point. The sharpshooter struggled from the outside but continues to be crafty enough to beat faster defenders and get his points, scoring 13.

Braden Smith, Purdue: Smith is a constant. His defense was as good as his offense. His three steals were as valuable as his 16 points. For good measure, the maestro of Purdue’s offense had 14 assists.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.