It was another exciting night for fans inside Mackey Arena as the Boilers enjoyed a 41 point victory over one of the better programs in the MAC this season. The 101-41 victory closed out the first portion of the schedule for Purdue as they moved to 12-1 on the season before the bulk of the B1G season begins.
Let’s jump into some numbers!
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6/10/100
It was Jack Benter’s night as the freshman flashed a bit of the reason why Matt Painter made him a high priority recruit and supports the praise we have heard. Against Kent St, Benter was a perfect 100% from the field as he went 7 for 7 overall and went 6 for 6 behind the arc. That means Benter has hit 10 consecutive three point shots over the last three games which pushes his season total to 18/30 and 60% behind the arc.
With that performance, his name will be a focus on the scouting report for the rest of the season. How will he play when that occurs? My bet is Benter is going to keep getting better and this won’t be the only game where the freshman gets hot from behind the arc and frustrates an opposing fanbase.
59
It was no secret that Purdue’s biggest weakness last season was their defense. They just didn’t seem able to put it all together for stretches that elevated the team into that true category to be a Final Four contender. This season, that isn’t a problem with the addition of Jacobsen, Cluff, Mayer, and a set of perimeter defenders who all took a major step forward.
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Since that surprising flat performance against Iowa State, Purdue has held their opponents to an average of just 59 points per game over four games. In fact, no opponent has scored over 60 points in those four games and that is something that hasn’t happened since the 2010-2011 season when Purdue held seven straight opponents to 60 points or lower (54ppg).
5
For the seventh time in their first thirteen game, Purdue had 5 players score in double figures. Against Kent St, Purdue was led by Jack Benter’s 20 but he was followed up by Loyer (19), TKR (15), Smith (12), and DJ (11). That kind of balanced scoring attack hasn’t frequently led to massive scoring nights but it certainly keeps opposing coaching staffs up late at night.
881
With his eight assists, Braden Smith moved into 23rd place all time in the NCAA record book with 881 career assists. Smith entered seventeen assists shy of Cassius Winston’s B1G record and, for a short period in the first half, it looked like he might get that against Kent St. Early in the first half, Smith grabbed three assists on three consecutive possessions but just couldn’t quite get enough to warrant leaving him in late into a blow out game. Instead, Smith is just 9 short of the B1G record and 195 short of Bobby Hurley’s NCAA record of 1,076.
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25
Purdue dominated almost every single aspect of this game but the Boilers were able to turn 15 Flashes turnovers into 25 points. That is the second time this season that Purdue has had twenty or more with 26 against Eastern Illinois.
1.42
Purdue’s offense ranks #1 on Kenpom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rankings and games like the one against Kent St only bolster those numbers. The Boilers scored at a clip of 1.42 points per possession and that number comes with no starters playing beyond the 11 minutes mark of the second half. The walk-ons even got extended time in this game with their substitution occurring at 2:45. That level of scoring is elite for any program over the course of a game but that has occurred frequently over the first 13 games of the season.
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10.2
One of the more impressive improvements for any player across the country is the jump that Trey Kaufman-Renn has taken as a rebounder this season. TKR had always been a good rebounder but his jump this season has been astounding. Kaufman averaged an incredible 20.4 points per game but only grabbed 6.5 rebounds per game. This season, although his points have dropped down to 14.0, his rebounding has jumped to 10.2 per game. That has shored up one of the weakest parts of the Boilers from last season into an overwhelming strength when coupled with the combined frontline of Cluff and DJ with 13.0.
