[20] Purdue 68, Rutgers 50 (Postgame Notes)
- 20-ranked Purdue defeated Rutgers 68-50 at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Thursday night to improve to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten standings.
- Purdue is 4-1 in the Big Ten for just the fifth time under Matt Painter (2025, 2023, 2018, 2011, 2008).
- The Boilermakers have now won four straight games by at least 18 points. Three of the wins have come against Big Ten foes.
- Purdue has won three straight Big Ten games by 18 or more points for the first time since Jan. 13-20, 2018.
- The 50 points allowed were the fewest in a Big Ten game since holding Minnesota to 39 points on Jan. 19, 2023.
- Purdue held two of the top four scorers in the league (Ace Bailey – 17 points, 5-15 FGs; Dylan Harper – 6 points, 2-9 FGs) to a combined 23 points. They entered the game averaging 40 points between them.
- It marks the second straight game that Purdue has held the league’s leading scorers well below their average (Northwestern’s Brooks Barnhizer and Nick Martinelli combined for 21 points).
- Purdue is now 19-2 in the month of January since the start of the 2022-23 season.
- The Boilermakers are now 104-23 since the start of the 2021-22 season, trailing only Houston (106) for wins in that span. Caleb Furst’s 104 wins are tied for the fourth most by a senior class in school history.
- Purdue won for the first time since Feb. 19, 2019 (48-46 over Indiana) when shooting under 20 percent from 3-point range (4-of-24) and 50 percent from the free throw line (8-of-16). Purdue was 24-of-32 (.750) from two-point range.
- The starting backcourt of Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer are now 75-15 as starters in the Purdue lineup.
- Purdue committed just eight turnovers, its fourth straight game with 11 or fewer turnovers. In the first 12 games, Purdue had just four games of 11 or fewer turnovers.
- Purdue has won 20 straight games when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent.
- Fletcher Loyer joined the 1,000-point club with 13 points, now with 1,009 career points. His backcourt mate, Braden Smith, surpassed the mark last Thursday.
- Braden Smith had 16 points, 14 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals, his 17th career double-double. Smith now has 16 career point-assist double-doubles, the most for a Big Ten player in the last 20 years.
- Smith now has 588 career assists, now 21st on the Big Ten’s career assists list, playing in just his 90th career game.
- Smith is now averaging 15.4 points and 8.9 assists per game. In Big Ten play, Smith is averaging 17.6 points and 9.2 assists per game.
- Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, having scored at least 10 points in all 16 games.