For the Purdue Boilermakers, the opening week of the NCAA college basketball season signaled the first time they launched a season with a target on its back. As the preseason #1-ranked team in all the land, the Boilers are sure to get every opponent’s best shot.
They learned that to be the case very quickly.
Purdue opened its much-anticipated campaign on Tuesday, November 4, against Evansville at the friendly confines of Mackey Arena, with an 82-51 victory that, for portions of the game, was far closer than the final score indicated. The Boilermakers followed that up with a hard-fought 87-77 win over the upset-minded Oakland Grizzlies on Friday, November 7, again at home, only pulling comfortably away in the latter part of the second half.
A win is a win, and there are no style points in the standings based on beauty and grace; in any game where the score is kept, winning the contest is the most crucial objective. Purdue met and fulfilled their aim during the first week by dispatching two mid-major programs, but their schedule soon ratchets up the degree of difficulty. To attain their lofty goals for 2025-26, the Boilermakers must address certain shortcomings quickly before their sluggishness results in unexpected losses and unfulfilled dreams.
Purdue opened up their season by scheduling an in-state opponent, the Evansville Purple Aces. Veterans Fletcher Loyer (career high 30 points) and Braden Smith (11 assists) led the way, but senior Trey Kaufman-Renn sat out due to a hip injury. The game also marked the Boilermaker debuts of transfer Oscar Cluff (nine points and 10 rebounds), as well as the breakout performance of emergency starter Jack Benter, who contributed 11 points, including three three-point baskets.
After Evansville took a 7-6 lead before the first media timeout, Benter drilled a three-pointer to take the lead. From there, Purdue took off and never looked back. Making his first-ever start in place of Kaufman-Renn, a returning first-team all-Big 10 player, Benter not only had belief in himself, but he had the confidence of his head coach and teammates.
“Let it rip, shoot the basketball if you’re open,” head coach Matt Painter said of Benter. “We can’t rebound your turnover, right? So, if you’ve got a guy you feel like can shoot 40% from three and you feel like you can get 20 to 25% of those offensive rebounds, those are positive plays, makes or misses.”
Loyer relished the opportunity to have another threat on the floor, saying, “It’s another shooter, another ball-handler, and he’s athletic.”
What the Evansville game showed was the stage was not too big for Benter, and that should pay off nicely once the conference schedule kicks in.
Oakland Grizzlies, welcome to the Braden Smith Show.
The reigning Big 10 Player of the Year willed Purdue to victory on Friday against a pesky and stubborn Oakland squad. Smith led a Boilermaker scorers with 20 points, and he was one assist shy of a double-double. In all, six Purdue players scored in double figures, including newcomer Liam Murphy, who scored 11 points in just ten minutes of work off the bench.
In what was supposed to be a stressless tune-up for next week’s tussle at Alabama, the Grizzlies put a huge scare into the Boiler faithful at Mackey Arena. It took a three-pointer from Murphy at the first-half buzzer to tie the game at 35. Purdue held just a three-point lead, 64-61, with less than eight minutes to play, but a 19-8 spurt over the next five minutes finally gave the Boilers the breathing room they needed to prevail.
The struggles Purdue faced against Oakland could be traced back to their poor rebounding and sketchy defensive performance. The Grizzlies out-rebounded the Boilermakers 39-37. This included a 12-11 edge in offensive boards, which gave Oakland numerous second-chance opportunities. This could be the direct result of Kaufman-Renn’s absence, who missed his second straight game, but Loyer bluntly thought it had to do with their overall effort on the defensive end.
“Yeah, I mean, we just beat Oakland by 10 points. Credit to them, they played a great game,” Loyer said. “But, if we’re supposed to be the No. 1 team in the country, we’ve got to be better than that, and it starts at the defensive end.”
All Purdue can do is play and beat the teams that are on their schedule, which they have done through their first two games. That worked against two mid-major teams, but the Boilermakers’ next game is a staunch road test when they travel to Tuscaloosa to take on 15th-ranked Alabama on Thursday. To make the plot even thicker, the Crimson Tide will be out to avenge last year’s defeat at the hands of Purdue.
There are no pictures in the box score; this is a results-based business. Purdue must figure out, however, how to defend and rebound consistently for 40 minutes. If they do not, especially in a hostile SEC setting, they may be looking at a long night on national television.
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