CJ Cox's 3-point stretch sparks No. 13 Purdue past No. 2 Alabama: "He ignited the game"

Mackey Arena remains the nation’s best host for a big-game party.

And C.J. Cox stole the spotlight.

The talented freshman quickly became the centerpiece of the festivities midway through the second half, hitting three 3-pointers in less than a minute as No. 13 Purdue knocked off No. 2 Alabama 87-78 before a sold-out crowd at Mackey Arena.

Cox’s nine points were part of a 13-0 run that erased a 65-59 deficit and pushed the advantage to 72-65 with 8:21 to play. Camden Heide made it four straight 3-pointers for the Boilermakers, who held a seven-point lead with 5:37 to play.

“He ignited the game,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said of Cox. ” We got (the crowd) into it, and then I thought we played really well down the stretch.”

Trey Kaufman-Renn was a beast inside, totaling 26 points and eight rebounds. Fletcher Loyer added 17 points, and Braden Smith contributed 17 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds.

The Boilermakers have won 39 straight non-conference regular-season games. The streak will be tested on Tuesday at Marquette.

The story of the second half for both teams was 3-point shooting.

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The Crimson Tide made just 1 of 9 from beyond the arc in the first half but didn’t lose contact with Purdue. They made three in the first four minutes after halftime, but Loyer answered with five straight points. Alabama finished 9 of 29 from 3-point range for the game.

Meanwhile, Purdue didn’t use the volume of 3-point shooting but leaned on its efficiency. The Boilermakers made 5 of 6, highlighted by Cox, to counter Alabama’s rebounding edge.

Both teams tried to deliver knockout punches but couldn’t shake the other one until Cox delivered back-to-back-to-back triples.  

Purdue also tied a program record with three turnovers against an athletic and skilled team when taking care of the ball has been an early season issue. The Boilermakers had 16 in their opener against Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

For the second straight game, Loyer drained a 3-pointer before the halftime buzzer, giving the Boilermakers a 42-40 lead. Loyer beat the intermission buzzer during Monday’s victory over Yale on a set play after a Purdue timeout.

The Boilermakers held the advantage for 17 minutes in the first half, but Alabama briefly took a 40-39 lead with 12 seconds left in the first half. That set the stage for Loyer’s 3-pointer.

Purdue battled through foul problems as Will Berg and Kaufman-Renn each picked two. Berg had three fouls and played only six minutes.

With Kaufman-Renn and Berg sidelined, senior Caleb Furst and freshman Raleigh Burgess provided a spark. They combined for nine points, including Burgess hitting his first collegiate 3-pointer with 7:46 left in the first half. It pushed the lead to 26-21.

The bench scored 27 points compared to Alabama’s 33, but the production from Purdue’s reserves impacted the game more. The five bench players hit 8 of 13 field goals and pulled down 12 rebounds. However, Myles Colvin didn’t attempt a shot.

“Myles Colvin doesn’t take a shot, and he really helps us win the basketball game,” Painter said. “That’s different for him because he’s a shot maker. But it shows – do you want to be a shot maker (or do) you want to be a basketball player? You’ve got to do other things, and now he’s doing other things.”

“IT’S UNREAL”

The fanbase has already embraced Cox, whose quick release and scoring ability in bunches have left an early impression.

But what the native of Lexington, Mass., did Friday night was borderline ridiculous. Who hits three 3-pointers in 52 seconds against one of the nation’s top teams in just his fourth collegiate game?

“Yeah, it’s unreal,” Loyer said about Cox. “He’s made shots on us all summer, shots you just shake your head like, ‘Man, how do you make that?’ But he came in ready to go, not afraid of the moment, and knocked down four huge shots, but three huge ones that just really sparked us in the second half.”

His first 3-pointer in the stretch was nearly a four-point play after he was fouled. He missed the free throw but regrouped to extend Purdue’s lead, raising the noise level inside Mackey Arena.

“P.J’s always telling me to look for my shot, and that’s something I’ve been working on throughout the season,” said Cox, referring to P.J. Thompson, the program’s director of player development. “When I was open, I just felt like I need to let it fly.”

Cox finished with 11 points, his second straight game in double figures after 12 points against Yale. How high was Cox on Alabama’s scouting report?

“Reputation coming out of high school as a shooter, but he hadn’t done this in a game,” Tide coach Nate Oats said. “They had some guys step up. They got him free, and we didn’t do a great job guarding them. His 18 minutes were big.

“We didn’t anticipate him being that good, but we definitely knew he was capable of shooting it.”

“HE KIND OF KILLED US IN THERE”

Kaufman-Renn shouldn’t have been a surprise to Alabama.

He played 20 minutes against the Tide last season in Canada and wasn’t effective with his performance. It’s not that Oats and his staff dismissed Kaufman-Renn, but they weren’t quite sure what the junior could do after playing next to Zach Edey.

They found out Friday.

Although it took 23 shots to reach a career-high 26 points, Kaufman-Renn kept forcing the action inside against Alabama’s big men. He handed out four assists and no turnovers in 29 minutes.

“We got beat up in the post more than I thought we were going to,” Oats said. “Getting Cliff (Omoruyi), I didn’t think we would need to double as much. Kaufman-Renn obviously wasn’t their primary post-up guy playing with Edey for pretty much his whole career. He didn’t post up as much, and I didn’t know he was that good. He kind of killed us in there.”

Kaufman-Renn collected 16 points in the paint, including 10 in the second half. His hook shot with 3:36 left helped put the game away as the Boilermakers led 78-71.

The Tide sent multiple defenders at Kaufman-Renn, including Grant Nelson and Omoruyi.

“P.J. gave me some post-up opportunities versus (Nelson),” Kaufman-Renn said. “When Cliff was in the game, we tried to get in more ball screens because we knew Cliff was going to be in drop coverage, and that gets Braden downhill and getting me in the short roll. However they’re going to guard, we have counters to it.”

Kaufman-Renn also had to battle foul trouble and played with two fouls down the stretch before halftime. Painter couldn’t afford to have Kaufman-Renn sitting on the bench during a critical period.

“Trey’s ability in the first half to play with two fouls and not get that third, it’s always a little dicey,” Painter said. “I just thought at that 4:30 mark in the first half, I didn’t see us finishing the half if we didn’t have somewhere to go with it. And getting the basketball to him to score right away and then get a couple more field goals, I thought that was a big thing for us just to hold serve.”

CLOSING THE REBOUNDING GAP

The final numbers show the Tide outrebounded the Boilermakers by two (37-35). But Alabama nearly stretched the margin to double-digits in the second half, and that likely would’ve spelled doom late in the game.

“I think that was the most important part of the game,” Kaufman-Renn said.  “That’s what coach told us. Our days of practice would be the free-throw line box outs on just everything. You’ve got people coming off the bench (Labaron Philon), he’s crashing hard every single time. He’s a guard. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re a top-three rebounding team in the country.”

But Purdue received rebounding contributions from nearly everyone. Along with Kaufman-Renn’s eight, Heide pulled down eight, Colvin had two important rebounds and Furst added two.

“We’re not there yet, but we did better,” Painter said. “I thought Cam Heide gave us a boost, and went got some basketballs. Myles got a really good rebound, and he had two. But he got a really tough one late that we needed.”