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Purdue powers past McNeese State to punch Sweet 16 ticket

On3 imageby:Brian Neubert•03/22/25•

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Purdue's Braden Smith
Purdue's Braden Smith (Chad Krockover)

PROVIDENCE — For the sixth time in the past eight NCAA Tournaments, Purdue is headed to the Sweet 16.

By virtue of its 76-62 win over McNeese State Saturday in Providence, the Boilermakers punched yet another Sweet 16 ticket, bound for Indianapolis next weekend for the Midwest Regional to meet either Houston or Gonzaga.

Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 22 points, one of four Boilermakers in double-figures, and grabbed 15 rebounds.

“He’s very unique, he’s stronger than he looks,” Coach Matt Painter said of Kaufman-Renn. “He’s a good passer. Tonight was probably his best rebounding game of the season. He hasn’t rebounded like that. That really would be a separator from him in terms of a national player.

Fletcher Loyer added 15, CJ Cox 11 and Braden Smith 10. Loyer bounces back after making one 3-pointer against High Point with three on Saturday.

PDF: Purdue-McNeese stats

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Again buoyed by a strong defensive effort, Purdue made six of its first eight shots to very quickly open up a robust lead. CJ Cox‘s pick-six steal put the Boilermakers up 14-6 at the 10-minute mark. McNeese allowed Clemson only 13 first-half points in Round 1.

Purdue’s first-half lead peaked at 22 behind 10 from Smith and eight points and eight rebounds from Kaufman-Renn.

More solid production from the bench, led by Camden Heide, Myles Colvin and Gicarri Harris. The trio totaled 16 points and 15 rebounds to keep the Cowboys in a double-digit hole. Purdue prevented McNeese from staging a comeback by hitting 19 of 23 from the line. Meanwhile, the Cowboys didn’t help themselves by converting 5 of 13 from the line.

Kaufman-Renn’s performance on the boards led to a 41-24 rebounding advantage. The Boilermakers controlled the defensive rebounding, preventing McNeese from crashing the offensive glass and collecting second-chance points.

At the defensive end and certainly on the glass, Purdue has recaptured its very best at the right time of year.

“I think it’s just the confidence we have continued to have in each other in this looker room and coaching,” Loyer said. “We were playing at one point our best basketball and we can get back to that point if we rebound the basketball.”

Purdue finished with 19 turnovers, but 13 came after halftime and the game was never in doubt.

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