The Purdue Boilermakers will look to atone for their disappointing showing in the Big 10 tournament when they face High Point University in Providence, RI, on Thursday. The Boilers, seeded fourth in the Midwest Region, bowed out in the quarterfinals of their conference tournament last week, losing to eventual champions Michigan, 86-68.
The matchup will be the second all-time meeting between Purdue and the Panthers. In their game back on November 14, 2011, the Boilermakers edged High Point, 67-65. Purdue’s Ryne Smith scored a career-high 26 points, and Robbie Hummel added 18.
High Point enters the tournament on a 14-game heater; they last lost on January 16th to conference foe Longwood University, 82-80. Their impressive 29-5 overall record includes sweeping the Big South tournament field last weekend, including an 81-69 victory over Winthrop in the title game.
Purdue head coach Matt Painter will be busy scouting the Panthers this week, and here are some key points they must master in their preparations.
This season, High Point out-rebounded their opponents by almost six caroms per game (36.4 to 30.7), and this statistic has been an inconsistent variable for Purdue this season. The Boilermakers, who finished their pre-March Madness season at 22-11, only grabbed 1.4 more rebounds per game than their adversaries.
The Panthers’ leading rebounder is sophomore forward and defensive specialist Juslin Bodo Bodo, who averages 8.4 boards per game. As a rookie in 2024, Bodo Bodo not only won the Big South’s Freshman of the Year, but he has also taken home the league’s Defensive Player of the Year two years in a row. Furthermore, he was the Big South Freshman of the Week an incredible nine times in 2023-24.
While not a prolific scorer at 5.3 points per game, the 7’0″ Bodo Bodo poses a problem for the undersized Boilermakers. Purdue’s lack of athleticism within their big men was exposed against Michigan last week. The Wolverines boasted two seven-footers, Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin, and those two imposed their will against the Purdue frontcourt, scoring a combined 33 points and securing 19 rebounds.
If Purdue hopes to advance to the round of 32, Trey Kaufman-Renn must have help from his mates, most notably Caleb Furst and Camden Heide.
While Furst and Heide have held their own in the rebounding category this season, they have not effectively slowed down the other team’s bigs lately. Purdue struggled to contain Illinois’ 7’1″ Tomislav Ivisic, who scored 14 points and had six rebounds against the Boilers on March 7, their previous loss before the Michigan setback.
Additionally, junior Kimani Hamilton, a 6-foot-8 forward, was recently named a finalist for the 2025 Lou Henson Award, which is given to the top player at a mid-major school. Hamilton was named to the first team of the 2024-25 Big South all-conference team, averaging 13.4 points on 52.3% shooting from the field.
Joining Hamilton on the Big South’s elite team is senior Panther guard Keeza Giffa. The 6’2″ senior poured in a team-leading 14.8 points per game and shot 86% from the free throw line.
Most teams limp to the finish line this time of year, as games are frequently won and lost through a battle of attrition.
Purdue is no different. Two starters needed medical attention during and after their loss to Michigan, and the health of their leaders will dictate how the team fares on Thursday.
Guard Fletcher Loyer suffered a left elbow injury in Friday’s quarterfinal loss. He returned to play several minutes but left the game for good with a little over three minutes to play. Loyer was unavailable for interviews after the game as a doctor examined him.
Loyer was ineffective after falling to the floor on a rebound attempt. He missed his two three-point attempts in his final eight minutes.
Coach Painter was asked about his decision to insert Loyer back into the lineup, but he clarified there was no further risk to his junior guard.
“I didn’t want to put him back in — I didn’t want him to further injure something, whatever — but our (athletic) trainer said he didn’t think that was possible,” Painter said. “(Loyer) wanted to go back in.”
As they have all season, Purdue will rely heavily on Big 10 Player of the Year Braden Smith and first-team all-conference forward Trey Kaufman-Renn.
Smith quarterbacked the offense beautifully this season, scoring 16.1 points each game while boasting a better-than 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Every Boilermaker is suddenly better when he is on, and Painter recognizes Smith’s impact on a game.
“He affects winning,” said Painter. “We get away from that, we look at different things, but he affects winning on both ends of the court.”
Replacing two-time Naismith Award winner Zach Edey, who is thriving with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies this season, was impossible. While Edey’s production and ability to guard the rim were unique and historic, no one told Kaufman-Renn how far-fetched matching his former teammate’s numbers was.
All TKR did this season was raise his game in all facets to pick up the slack due to Edey’s absence. He led Purdue in scoring (20.2) and rebounding (6.2) while shooting 60% from the field. This was a drastic upgrade compared to his 2023-24 numbers; Kaufman-Renn scored just 6.4 points and grabbed 4.0 rebounds per contest last season.
“He’s done such a good job (this year) making decisions and passing,” said Painter earlier in the season. “So whether that’s in the low post or the pocket passes, he’s really taking a big step in his decision-making.”
Painter and Boiler Nation certainly hope he continues this trend for the next three weeks.
As the saying goes, this is “when the rubber meets the road.” There are no more do-overs; each NCAA tournament game is either survive and advance or lose and go home.
Purdue must find the urgency to compete at their highest level for the next three weeks. As they have proven this season, they can beat nationally ranked powers such as Alabama and Maryland. They have shown inconsistencies, leading to unacceptable losses to lesser opponents (see Indiana and Ohio State).
Painter and his crew have a few days to prepare for March Madness. Time will tell how long their run will last.
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