The Purdue Boilermakers, led by a scorching hot offensive attack and a stifling defense, dominated the Nebraska Cornhuskers in every way possible en route to a resounding 104-68 victory on Sunday. The Boilers shot an incredible 63.1% from the field and connected on 19 three-pointers. Both statistics are season-highs for Purdue.
The 20th-ranked Boilermakers improved to 5-1 in the Big 10 and 13-4 overall. With the loss, Nebraska fell to 2-3 in conference play and 12-4 overall.
On the defensive end, Purdue forced 17 Nebraska turnovers, and they held a prohibitive edge on the glass, outrebounding the Cornhuskers 33-20 while allowing Nebraska just four offensive caroms.
All season long, the triumvirate of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn have controlled the offense for Purdue. Between the three of them, they average 46.7 points per game, which is almost 60% of the team’s output. While the trio played very effectively on Sunday–Smith dished out 14 assists, Loyer hit five of six from distance, and Kaufman-Renn poured in 15 points–two other unusual suspects stole the spotlight.
Freshman guard C.J. Cox exploded for a career-high 23 points on nine of 11 from the field, including five three-pointers, on Sunday. This was the third game since Cox’s insertion into the starting lineup, and it has paid dividends for head coach Matt Painter.
“I just thought CJ was great,” said Painter. “He hit a couple timely threes in the first half, and then he really got going in the second half of making shots and those guys finding him. He got to his pull-up a few times, which he needs to do more.”
Cox was just as effective defensively by recording four steals. This lockdown defensive effort, according to Cox, directly led to his successful offensive day.
“I feel like it fueled it a lot,” Cox said regarding his efforts on defense. “Once we got stops on defense, it led to transition offense.”
Also busting out against the Cornhuskers was sophomore Myles Colvin, who hit a season-best four three-point baskets. After starting eight consecutive games in the middle of the schedule, Colvin came off the bench on Sunday and scored 14 points in just 19 minutes without committing a single turnover.
The Boilermakers raced out to a 22-7 lead in the first eight minutes and the start was fueled by Purdue hitting four of their first six three-point attempts. The lead grew to the first half-high 21 points when Kaufman-Renn, who continued his season-long streak of scoring in double digits on Sunday, converted an old-school three-point play to make the score 39-18 with 4:08 remaining in the first stanza.
Purdue settled for a 45-28 lead at the half, and their lead never dipped below that 17-point margin for the rest of the game.
In the second half, the Boilermakers scored the first five points and never felt threatened again. Because of the comfortable margin enjoyed by Purdue for most of the contest, Painter was allowed to substitute freely at the end; in fact, 13 total Boilermakers registered at least one point.
The Purdue Boilermakers will head to the West Coast this week to take on the Washington Huskies in Seattle on Wednesday night, then travel south from there to challenge 15th-ranked Oregon on Saturday afternoon. Both games are Big 10 tilts
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