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Takeaways from win at Oregon

On3 imageby:Brian Neubert•01/18/25•

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Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn
Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (4) dunks the ball after a lob pass against the defense of Oregon Ducks center Nate Bittle (32) and forward Brandon Angel (21) during the second half at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

EUGENE, Ore. — Our post-game analysis following 17th-ranked Purdue’s 65-58 win at Oregon Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena.

PDF: Purdue-Oregon statistics

DEFENSIVE LIVES THERE, BUT TRAVELS

In two games out west, Purdue allowed only 58 points in both games. If not for Great Osobor‘s out-of-body experience as a three-point shooter, the Boilermakers may have kept Washington under 40.

At Oregon, the defensive surge continued, as Purdue’s swarming help defense laid traps for an offense that just kept hunting angles to drive the ball — right into help. All these turnovers, Purdue is forcing them, led by the profound impact being made by Braden Smith as a freelancing disruptor, the Boilermakers’ honey badger.

Matt Painter lamenting his team’s shortcomings in communication and connectivity defensively back in November now seems forever ago, but all of Purdue’s deficiencies back then now look like honest-to-goodness strengths. This is the best defensive team Purdue has had in years, emphasis on team, punctuated by the rebounding effort that hit its zenith at Oregon. Purdue does not have natural advantages on the glass anymore, but has made up for it for effort and awareness.

You couldn’t have scripted these developments any better.

ON TREY KAUFMAN-RENN

Braden Smith is Purdue’s star and one of the best players in America, but it’s Trey Kaufman-Renn who may wield even more influence over winning and losing and Saturday was a great example of the former.

Biggest Big Ten game of the season thus far and despite a slow start against Oregon’s height and length, Kaufman-Renn gets a game-high 23 points, but also came up big in areas where he has sometimes left something to be desired.

The Boilermakers’ signature frontcourt player has averaged only about six rebounds this season. It’s fine. He’s not necessarily built to be a dominant rebounder. He’s the face of Purdue having to overachieve.

But against Oregon’s size, Kaufman-Renn not only got 11, but contributed to Duck 7-footer Nate Bittle getting only two. It’s not just the rebounds you get but also those your man doesn’t.

And, or course, one of the stories of the game: Kaufman-Renn, an up-and-down foul shooter to say the least, was 9-for-9. Incredible job by him being calm and mechanically sound and arguably winning this game for Purdue at the stripe.

IT’S THE SAME STORY

You can look at this a few different ways, but Purdue’s blueprint again unfolded. It functions well offensively in the first half, but doesn’t shoot well enough to reap the rewards and separate on the scoreboard. It dominates the second half and wins going away. In today’s case, the Boilermakers never made shots, unless they were free throws, but dominated nonetheless.

It’s great that Purdue’s experience and competitive edge are showing up after halftime, and manifesting themselves in whatever the Boilermakers need to win, but it has to be a bit maddening that Purdue is getting the ball right at the rim and not cashing in as preferred, as well as getting good looks from three that don’t start going in until deep in the game.

There’s no ugly side to this win. This was a great win, but this uncommon trend continues and bears monitoring, with no real rhyme or reason to it.

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