Caleb Furst, Takeaways from Purdue’s 100-71 win over Rutgers

Our post-game analysis following Purdue’s 100-71 win over Rutgers Tuesday night in Mackey Arena.

A FITTING FURST FAREWELL

In Caleb Furst’s last game in Mackey Arena, the Boilermakers’ lone senior really mattered. Not because he was part of Purdue’s jump-shooting blowing the Scarlet Knights doors off, but because he was the face of what would have won this game even if Purdue didn’t make the basket look big as a national park from three-point range.

Rebounding.

This was the second straight game in which Purdue had to rebound to win in the second half.

For the second straight game, a team that had previously middled in second halves rose to the occasion.

After offensive rebounding buoyed Rutgers in the first half — an eight-point possession helped, too — Purdue destroyed the Knights on the glass in the second half. Long offensive rebounds, contested defensive rebounds, whatever it was, the Boilermakers got ’em.

And it started with Furst, who finished with nine rebounds, providing the sort of situationally importany spark he has so often this season.

Furst was never a star but Matt Painter talks often of players being “stars in their roles.” For much of this season, the senior was just that and for a team with real concerns on the glass, real defensive limitations to overcome and a dearth of depth in the frontcourt, Furst masked a number of vulnerabilities that otherwise might have adversely affected the Boilermakers’ season.

Not bad for a guy who had Zach Edey dropped on top of him in Year 2 and never really got that season where Purdue needed to invest in him, needed to build around him, needed to push him to his basketball limit. That still wasn’t the case this season, but Furst could have easily just settled for a great academic résumé, a great life to come and his med-school future more than offensive rebounding.

That he rose to occasions where Purdue now needed him desperately makes his title as the program’s winningest player one he can wear credibly for the 11 or 12 months he holds that distinction.

LOOK OUT BELOW

Purdue will go as far as its defense takes it the next few week, but as the postseason nears, the Boilermakers just fired a warning shot to all upcoming opponents that this is still an outstanding offensive team that can bury you if you’re not careful.

En route to postseason honors, Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting, but was kind of window dressing by his standards in this game because Purdue’s shooting erupted for one of those classic Mackey Arena buzzsaw games.

Eighteen threes is a number people are going to have to fear in coming weeks, and with that might come even more opportunity for TKR — the Big Ten’s leading scorer as of this morning — to go off.

There were so many moments of muscle-flexing in this game.

Rutgers led by eight in the first half after that wild eight-point trip. It took the Boilermakers barely two-and-a-half minutes to make four threes to turn that deficit into a three-point lead.

In the second half, Rutgers had no chance. That much was clear as day when Braden Smith missed a triple then got it back after an offensive rebound, then made the do-over, before Fletcher Loyer did the exact same thing.

It was one of those nights.

This Rutgers team must have aged Steve Pikiell a decade. How his team can let Loyer get 12 threes off, some of them wide open, and Smith 13 is incomprehensible.

They paid a big price for it.

WINNING STUFF

Overshadowed, probably, by the game of H-O-R-S-E Purdue played all night from three-point range was the winning stuff it has done when it has mattered most. After the four-game losing streak punctuated the importance of playing a full 40 minutes at peak level, Purdue has really fared well in second halves the past two games after slipping up repeatedly after halftime prior.

Purdue makes good decisions and hardly ever takes bad shots, an under-discussed strength of this team.

It is evident in two really important areas that transcend shooting.

Purdue only turned the ball over once in the second half vs. Rutgers after choking off that ugly little gremlin similarly vs. UCLA; meanwhile, after offensive rebounds kept Rutgers afloat early, Purdue turned those tables entirely, out-rebounding Rutgers 28-13 in the second half and totaling 18 second-chance points.