Skip to main content
purdue logo

Takeaways UCLA win

On3 imageby:Brian Neubert•03/03/25•

brianneubert

Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn
Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn (Chad Krockover)

Our post-game analysis following Purdue’s 76-66 win over UCLA Friday night in Mackey Arena.

LEADERS LEAD

This week, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith were sort of the faces of the accountability Matt Painter wanted to see after a four-game losing streak. The coach’s comments about both after the Indiana game were pointed, as Painter can be as he’s secure in what he says publicly because he says the same things to players privately.

It was Kaufman-Renn who called this week’s players meeting and Smith who articulated his need to be a better leader and exude more positive energy.

Playing well and leading aren’t always the same thing, but tonight, for the two juniors, they were.

In a 29-point, 11-of-15 shooting game, Kaufman-Renn carried Purdue. He was the physical tone-setter in what was bound to be a physical game and his sheer will really showed in the second half as the Boilermakers essentially won this game with offensive rebounding.

Smith’s will more than showed up, too, as he too ran down important loose balls, made fine decisions in winning time and eliminated Purdue’s on-going turnover problem when it mattered most.

More broadly, they were the faces of Purdue returning to its disruptive defense of January, starting with Kaufman-Renn deflecting passes early and Smith once again being the game’s foremost defensive disruptor. The two upperclassmen combined for seven steals. That’s part effort, but a bigger part attentiveness and “doing your job,” as has been Painter’s plea.

From both, this was leadership, at it came in moments when leadership is tested.

This goes down as a double-digit win, but look closer and you’ll see it was all happening again.

Purdue went up 10 in the first half and it got away; UCLA made nine of its first 13 shots in the second half.

This was the precise script for at least the last three losses, so Purdue stood on a familiar cliff.

This time, behind Kaufman-Renn and Smith, it responded.

‘WANTING IT MORE’

Kaufman-Renn and Smith were great, but the face of this win was Camden Heide, who seemed to get every rebound during the decisive final 10 minutes, finishing with nine, all in the second half.

Mind you, the single-biggest key for Purdue after halftime was rebounding after UCLA owned the boards in the first half, feasted on second-chance points and just was quicker to the ball.

Kaufman-Renn led the turnaround, then handed the reins to Heide.

When Purdue desperately needed defensive stops and UCLA started missing jumpers, Heide was the difference in the game, rebounding at a level that made the fact he made perhaps the game’s biggest shot an afterthought.

A REALLY BIG WIN

So, Job 1 in this game for Purdue was just to get right, to just get some positive juice back.

But there were ancillary areas of importance here, too.

With a Big Ten regular season title now off the table, the Big Ten Tournament is Purdue’s last chance for a conference championship, and the double-bye matters. Purdue now has the fourth slot in the standings and the tie-breaker over both Maryland and UCLA. Lots of basketball left to play, but the Boilermakers are well-positioned to avoid playing on Thursday. That is a big deal.

So was this win for the NCAA Tournament résumé, for which Purdue’s seeding standing has taken a hit.

This was a a Quad 1 win.

UCLA is legit.

You may also like