Credit to: purduesports.com
[18] Purdue 100, Rutgers 71 (Postgame Notes)
- The No. 18 Purdue men’s basketball team defeated Rutgers 100-71 in its home finale, to move to 21-9 overall and 13-6 in the Big Ten standings.
- Purdue has won five straight games against Rutgers, the last three wins by a combined 75 points.
- Purdue is now 14-2 during the month of March over the last two seasons.
- It marked the second time this season that Purdue hit the century mark, scoring 104 against Nebraska on Jan. 12, 2025. It marks the first time since the 1974-75 season (3 games) that Purdue has scored 100 points in two Big Ten games.
- Purdue scored at 1.61 points per possession, a new school record.
- The Boilermakers made 18 three-pointers, tied for the fourth-most triples in a game in school history.
- Purdue’s senior class, consisting of Caleb Furst, went 60-5 in Mackey Arena during the four years (2022-25). Furst has been a part of 59 conference wins, tying the conference record for the most wins by a senior class (set by last year’s Purdue team).
- Purdue has won 72 Big Ten games over the last five seasons, the most in Big Ten history in a 5-year span.
- Purdue has shot over 50.0 percent in 13 of 19 Big Ten games this season, and is now shooting 50.3 percent from the field in league play. At its current pace, it would be the league’s highest percentage since 2004 (Michigan State, .522).
- Purdue improved to 41-3 since the start of the 2021-22 season when having single-digit turnovers.
- Purdue is now 106-4 since the start of the 2017-18 season when scoring 80 points.
- Purdue has won 128 straight games when scoring 90 or more points, last losing on Nov. 26, 1987 to Iowa State.
- Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith made seven 3-pointers each, marking the first time in school history that two players made seven or more 3-pointers in a game.
- Fletcher Loyer scored 23 points, going 7-of-12 from long range. Over his last 10 games, Loyer is 29-of-47 (.617) from 3-point range. He has made at least two 3-pointers in eight straight games.
- Braden Smith scored 23 points with nine assists, five rebounds and two steals, making 7-of-13 shots from long range.
- He is the first Purdue player in the last 20 years to have made at least six 3-pointers in consecutive games and is now 13-of-23 from deep in the last two games.
- Smith now has 488 points, 260 assists, 136 rebounds and 71 steals on the season. He is now one of eight players in NCAA history to have at least 485 points, 260 assists, 135 rebounds and 70 steals, and the first since BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth in 2015-16, and just the third this century.
- Smith’s 71 steals are now the fifth most in a season in Purdue history.
- Smith surpassed 700 assists and now has 705 assists for his career – already ranking sixth on the Big Ten career list in his junior year.
- Trey Kaufman-Renn had 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists and now needs just nine points for 1,000 in his career.
- Gicarri Harris scored a career-high 11 points, to go along with three rebounds and a steal.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith scored 23 points apiece to lead No. 18 Purdue past Rutgers 100-71 on Tuesday night.
Loyer and Smith each made seven 3-pointers as the Boilermakers went 18 of 36 from beyond the arc. Trey Kaufman-Renn added 16 points for Purdue (21-9, 13-6 Big Ten), which has won two in a row following a four-game skid.
Dylan Harper scored 13 points and Ace Bailey had 12 for the Scarlet Knights (14-16, 7-12).
Ten players scored for the Boilermakers.
https://purduesports.com/documents/2025/3/5/GAME30_Purdue_100__Rutgers_71.PDF
Purdue shot 56% percent from the field while holding Rutgers to 44%. The Boilermakers also held a 40-26 rebounding edge. Caleb Furst, the lone Purdue senior, led the way with nine rebounds in his final home game and Kaufman-Renn had eight.
The Boilermakers shot 69% in the first half to take a 50-41 lead at halftime. Rutgers shot 47% in the opening period.
Takeaways
Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights led 27-19 midway through the first half but were unable to slow down Purdue’s 3-point barrage. Purdue also held a 36-24 edge in points in the paint.
Purdue: The Boilermakers got some key contributions from their bench with 11 points from Gicarri Harris and nine from Myles Colvin. Smith picked up his fourth foul with 8:20 left but was able to sit the rest of the way thanks to Purdue’s large lead. He finished with nine assists.
Key moment
After grabbing a rebound, Smith passed to Furst for an alley-oop dunk off a fast break to make it 42-37 with 3:36 left in the first half. That started a 7-0 run, which included a 3-pointer by Smith and a second-chance driving layup by C.J. Cox.
Key stat
Purdue shot 11 of 17 on 3s in the first half to erase an early deficit and grab control.
