Purdue came into this game riding a high after taking down #8 Alabama on the road. They watched earlier today as #1 usurping Houston struggled to take down future Purdue opponent Auburn. Maybe that was a nice reminder to take nothing for granted as Purdue will next head to the Bahamas. This had all the makings of a classic trap game for Purdue. In the first half though Purdue certainly didn’t play like a team looking past the Zips.
I joked in the game thread that Akron, who averages 99 points per game, who shoots 32.4% from three coming into this one would likely shoot 40% or more against the Boilermakers. Well, in the first half that was what kept Akron in the game. They were 7-17 from deep for, you guessed it, 41%. I guess my prediction was more prescient than I thought. I should do this for a living or something. Of course, there are two teams on the court and Purdue wasn’t about to let the Zips have all the fun out there.
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Purdue has just so many weapons that it’s hard for opponents to know where to focus their defense. That was certainly the case in the first half when Purdue had eight different players score and five different players hit a three pointer. Purdue was led by Fletcher Loyer with 16 in just 13 minutes of play. He wasn’t the only one out there making a difference though as Purdue was able to sit Braden Smith for three minutes thanks to the continued emergence of Omer Mayer. Mayer had 9 points, 2 rebounds, a 1 assist in the first half. Combine that with the 8 points, 1 rebound, and 6 assists that Braden Smith had and you’re getting quite a bit of production from the point guard position. Plus, Braden Smith does things like this, it was so disrespectful I can’t even put into words the noises Mackey made when this happened.
I’ve gone this far and haven’t even mentioned Trey Kaufman-Renn being an absolute beast on the boards in the first half. He had 9 first half rebounds, and a couple hard falls as he fought for them. Then look at the center position where Daniel Jacobsen drained an open three and Oscar Cluff fought for rebound after rebound down low. In just the first 20 minutes those two Boilers combined for 9 points and 7 boards. Things are really coming together for this team. The Zips played an impressive offensive game but this was all about the Boilermakers and taking care of business. After a really impressive last five minutes of game time Purdue went into halftime 52-39.
John Wooden Memorial Player of the Game (JWMPOTG): I’m going with the big man Oscar Cluff here. Not only did he get a double double finishing with 14 points and 14 rebounds, but he played like the force down low that we all hoped we were getting when he committed to the Boilermakers in the offseason.
When the second half started the game was still close and the way Akron had been shooting the ball made it seem like it was still in doubt. You know what’s good for putting a game out of reach? Rebounding the basketball. Purdue did that and more in the second half. Akron didn’t get their first rebound of the second half until 13:56 to go. They didn’t get their second of the half until there was just. 9:03 to go. Purdue meanwhile had 15 rebounds at that point. That’s how you squeeze the life out of an opponent. You make them score on every single possession with just one opportunity. No second chances. It just makes every shot seem more important for the opponent and increases the pressure each and every time Akron had the basketball.
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Omer Mayer deserves special recognition here as he had his best game of the season so far. He looked much more comfortable running the point and it allowed Smith to continue to get a blow every now and then. That’s not a luxury that Purdue had last season and it will come up big as the season churns along.
If you’re someone who cares about stats boy did the Boilermakers stuff the stat sheet tonight. Here’s just a quick sampling of what Purdue accomplished tonight.
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Braden Smith with 16 points, 10 assists, and 3 rebounds.
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Oscar Cluff with 14 points and 14 rebounds
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Purdue outrebounded Akron 45-26 including 24-12 in the second half.
Purdue improved to 4-0 on the season and avoided the dreaded trap game. Casey and Jed will have much more on this game over the next 24 hours so keep it right here on Hammer and Rails.
