Loyer, Kaufman-Renn help No. 14 Purdue push past Northern Kentucky

The turnovers were cleaned up.

Points in the paints were limited.

Two areas of concern following the season-opening victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi were improved Friday night against Northern Kentucky.

The Norse were better on the boards, but the experience and production of Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn carried the 14th-ranked Boilermakers to a 72-50 victory before another sellout at Mackey Arena.

PDF: Purdue-Northern Kentucky box score

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However, an injury to freshman Daniel Jacobsen put a bit of a damper on the evening. Jacobsen suffered a “lower leg injury,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said afterward. He went to the training room and returned on crutches. He had an ice pack on his shin area until late in the first half.

Will Berg and Raleigh Burgess received extended minutes in Jacobsen’s absence.

Both took advantage of scoring opportunities – a first-half dunk by Burgess gave Purdue a 21-7 lead with 12:53 before halftime. Berg stepped up his production after halftime, throwing down back-to-back dunks midway through the second half to extend the margin to 55-38.

Loyer, Kaufman-Renn, and Braden Smith kept things together on the offensive end.

Loyer’s 4 of 5 shooting from 3-point range allowed the Boilermakers to start fast, and Kaufman-Renn powered his way through NKU’s interior defense to score.

Loyer had a team-high 16 points and Kaufman-Renn added 14 and the duo and made a combined 10 of 14 shots. Smith’s floor game shined once again. He reached double figures with 11 points but handed out seven assists, targeting Kaufman-Renn and Berg inside throughout the second half. Berg totaled seven points and seven rebounds.

Purdue finished with 13 turnovers – three fewer than Monday – and the Norse scored 18 points in the paint, well below the Islanders’ total of 38. The difference was Purdue scored 34 points in the paint to counter NKU’s production.

The Norse had 15 of their 33 rebounds on the offensive end.

“Where we struggled the most is keeping him off the glass,” Painter said. “They did a great job offensive rebounding, and we didn’t do a good job of keeping them off the glass and boxing out and going to get the basketball.”

JACOBSEN UPDATE

The 7-foot-4 freshman played precisely one minute before colliding with an NKU defender and falling to the ground.

Jacobsen picked himself up but had a noticeable limp. He needed help to leave the floor and was taken to the training room. After returning, Jacobsen watched the final 39 minutes from the bench, using crutches during timeouts.

“They’ll get an MRI, X-rays (Saturday),” Painter said. “We should know something by the end of the day (Saturday).”

NEXT MAN UP

With Jacobsen out the remainder of the game, Berg, Burgess, and Caleb Furst rotated through the center position. As a group, they combined for 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Berg, though, logged the most minutes with 16.

“Obviously it’s helps confidence-wise but doesn’t really change that much because all of the guys, like Braden said, it’s a next man up mentality,” Berg said. “Whenever you get a chance, you just try to be as effective as you can in the minutes you get.

“It was nice getting out there and touching the floor a little bit more. It helped me get in rhythm a little bit more, especially on the free throw line since I struggled with that last game.”

Berg was 1 of 6 from the line in the opener but converted his only attempt Friday night. Going 1 of 1 at the line doesn’t jump out, but it did for Berg.

“Just for sanity and making that free throw, right?” Painter said. “It’s really hard. I tried to tell him the last game, ‘I thought you did good things. You just didn’t have a lot to show for it.’ You’ve got to reward yourself by making your free throws.

“And I thought he got some elite rebounds above the rim, where he went high.”

Berg spent his first two seasons battling two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey, who prepared the native of Sweden for moments like Friday. He was 3 of 4 from the field.

“I think that’s what we expect from Will,” Smith said. “He’s been here for three years now, along with us, and he understands what it takes. When a guy gets hurt, he’s the next man up. I think he did a great job coming in and being that center that we needed. Obviously, Daniel going down sucks, but it’s part of sports, and it happens. (Berg) came in ready to play.”

Burgess’ decision not to redshirt allowed him more playing time Friday. He scored four points and grabbed five rebounds but was 2 of 5 from the field, thanks to a couple of missed layups in the second half.

He battled hard inside but Painter said his conditioning level needs improvement.

“All of Raleigh’s was conditioning,” Painter said. “When it’s on E, it doesn’t stand for elephant. His tank was empty.”

Like Berg, Burgess was thrown into a situation because of Jacobsen’s injury.   

“I thought he did some good things, but he misses those layups bad, and he misses those free throws, and it’s all conditioning,” Painter said. “We’ve got to ramp some things up for him, but we also got to know how far he can go in a game where he needs to get a sub.”

LET’S TALK MORE

The communication element on the defensive end in dealing with ball screens is an area Painter continues to harp on.

And he’s not letting up.

“He kind of ripped us a little bit, but it’s simple stuff,” Loyer said. “It’s just talking to each other. We talk off the floor so we can talk on the floor. And he always says, ‘if you’re doing it, you’re saying it.’ Just making sure we’re all being positive with each other, make or missed shots. Just keep talking to each other, and ultimately that leads to success.”

Painter called his team’s communication “just OK” after an offseason of workouts, more than a month of practices, and two games. Painter’s dealt with other teams that had similar issues but believes every program goes through this.

Painter recalled three or four times the Boilermakers messed up ball screen assignments Friday, but the film will likely reveal more.

“We’ve got to get people out of their comfort level,” he said. “We’ve got to do more as a staff. We have too many people that compete like their personality off the court. Like you can be whatever you want off the court. That’s who you are. That’s how the Lord made you, but you’ve got to be able to … we’re past telling them to talk. We’re telling them to yell because they’re probably talking then. We’ve got to do a better job.”