Purdue took the struggles and frustration from their slim victory against Memphis and came out looking every part of the number one team in the country. Texas Tech, a very well through of 15th ranked team in the country, led for only 1:03 and that includes the brief point just before the tidal wave that is Purdue came full force. With 9:28 remaining in the first half, Texas Tech tied the game at 20 with a JT Toppin jumper. At that point, Purdue would go on to outscore the Red Raiders 29-6 and that included a 20-0 run in just over five minutes of game time.
Purdue would take that 49-26 lead at the half and expand it all the way to 33 points with twenty seconds left in the game, showing what kind of team the Boilers have from top to bottom. It is a scary proposition that, amidst a game in which Purdue dominated like no other ranked team has this season, the NPOY candidate scored just 10 points on 4-7 shooting while playing just 28 minutes. The Boilers, having been doubted early in the season, flexed their muscles for everyone to see.
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Let’s see what this victory means ‘By the Numbers’:
810
With a seven assist performance, Braden Smith moved his career assists total to 810 and is now at 52 on the season. His 8.7 assists per game equal his average from last season that saw him get 313 total. He continues to be in third place in the B1G and is just six behind Mateen Cleaves’ 816 and 80 behind Cassius Winston’s leading 890. In his chase for the all-time record, Smith moved himself into a tie for 51st with Russell Brown (Arizona; 1978-1981) and is now 266 behind Bobby Hurleys 1,076. With his average of 8.7, Smith would need 31 games to break the record…which would mean Purdue would need to make the finals of the B1G Tourney and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tourney.
30
A 30 point victory should never really be overlooked, no matter the opponent. When that opponent is a top-15 team who many viewed as a favorite to win the Big 12, suddenly everyone’s eyes get real big around the country. In fact, that 30-point victory is the largest margin of victory for a B1G team over an AP Top-15 opponent in the non-conference since Michigan State beat Penn by 34 in the 1979 Final Four.
21
With their dominating defense performance, Purdue saw their defensive ranking on KenPom suddenly shoot up more than 27 spots from 48th to 21st. For those that are unfamiliar, KenPom is one of the lead analytics in college basketball and provides a great detailed look at a vast number of stats. Notably, no NCAA Champion has been outside the top-40 offensively and top-25 defensively. Last year Purdue missed that with a defense ranked 53rd but the addition of Oscar Cluff, Omar Meyer, and TKR being back at the power forward position seems to have done wonders for the Boilers.
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As of 11/22/25, Purdue has moved itself into first place on Kenpom behind that dominating performance.
7
With his 7 assists, Smith now has 52 assists in 6 games this season. That places his career total at 810 and in a tie for 51st place with Russell Brown of Arizona (1978-1981). That also places him just six behind second place Mateen Cleaves and 80 behind Cassius Winston’s B1G record of 890. For those looking ahead, it looks like Smith may break the B1G record right when the Boilers turned the calendar to 2026 at Wisconsin (1/3) or Washington (1/7).
7…Again
When your offense can boast having 7 players in double-figures for scoring against a top-15 team, that suddenly makes the scouting report a long one for opponents. That kind of equal scoring shows that Purdue has the support around the trio of TKR, Smith, and Loyer to withstand a night when those three may be a little off. The other big piece from that is that nobody took more than 9 shots from the floor. That kind of sharing of the ball to shoulder the scoring load is impressive.
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5
With their victory in the Bahamas, Purdue has now won 5 straight MTE’s (multi-team events) that have featured a lot of the really good programs around college basketball. Those MTE’s are the 2021 Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic, 2022 Phil Knight Legacy, 2023 Maui Invitational, 2024 Rady Children’s Invitational, and the 2025 Baha Mar Championship and victories over #18 UNC, #5 Villanova, #6 Gonzaga, #8 Duke, #11 Gonzaga, #7 Tennessee, #4 Marquette, #23 Ole Miss, and #15 Texas Tech. When taking all of the games into account, that’s now twelve straight victories in those tourneys.
58.6%
Against Texas Tech, Purdue shot an incredibly 58.6% from the floor against a team that is no slouch on the defensive end and also includes 8-14 (57.1%) from behind the arc. That’s the highest this season and the highest since the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers where Purdue won 104-68. In that game, Purdue shot 63.1% and went 19-33 (57.6%) from behind the arc. That pushed Purdue’s three point shooting percentage to 41.4% and the Boilers are averaging 86.5 points per game on just 63.8 shots per game.
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62
Not only did the Boilers dominate the scoring against the Red Raiders, they were equally (if not more) dominating on the boards. Outrebounding Texas Tech 43-25, Purdue now holds a +62 rebounding advantage over the course of the entire season and average +10.3 per game. The key is since TKR returned to the lineup, that average margin per game grows to 166-104 for a +15.5 advantage per game. That would put the Boilers as a top-10 rebounding margin in all of college basketball. Considering this team was ranked 309th overall last year rebounding the ball, the addition of Cluff and TKR simply looking like a totally different player attacking the glass, that’s a stunning turnaround.
25
With his 15 point and 15 rebound performance, Oscar Cluff registered his 25th career double-double over his career and third in six games with Purdue. The big man from Australia is currently averaging a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds while also shooting 81.8% from the free throw line. Cluff appears to be getting more and more comfortable within his role with the Boilers and his teammates are figuring out how he fits into the structure on both ends of the floor. That was made very clear with Smith’s behind the back pass that Cluff finished with authority.
217
Fletcher Loyer continues to prove that although his name isn’t at the top of the scouting report, he may be the best three point scorer in the country. He is able to hit threes as a set shooter, off the dribble, running the fast break, and coming off every kind of screen you can get for him. That continued improvement has him leading the B1G with 20 made threes on the season and with 217 made for his career. With his two made threes against Texas Tech, Loyer moved himself just past Robbie Hummel’s 216 and into 8th place. He now sits nine behind Sasha Stefanovic’s 226 and 64 behind Carsen Edwards’ 281 career three point buckets. That may mean that program record is broken around the Iowa game on February 14th.
