Purdue’s first game of 2026 turned into a dominant road victory at Wisconsin as the Boilers defeated the Badgers 89-73. With the victory, Braden Smith broke the B1G career assists record previously held by Cassius Winston for the last several years. Purdue moved to 3-0 in the early stages of the B1G race with a three game stretch against Washington, Penn State, and #25 Iowa all at Mackey Arena.
Let’s take a quick look at the game against Wisconsin ‘Behind the Numbers.’
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893
With his 12 assists against Wisconsin, Braden Smith’s career assists of 893 becomes the gold standard for the B1G. With 9:22 left in the second half, Smith found Oscar Cluff under the hoop for an easy layup that gave him the B1G record. That passed Michigan State’s Cassius Winston and moved Smith to #19 in NCAA History, just 184 short of the record held by Bobby Hurley (1,076).
20.9
Along with Braden Smith leading the country in assists per game at 9.6, Purdue clocks itself in at 5th overall in the country with 20.9 assists per game. The Boilers are on pace to break their program record of 720 total team assists they achieved during their Final Four run a few seasons ago. To show what kind of offensive efficiency Purdue is operating in, the Boilers had 22 team assists while Wisconsin had just 7. At their pace, Purdue would get to 711 assists in just 34 games (the minimum they would play this season) but would shatter their record by nearly 100 if they get to 39 games overall this season (B1G Championship & the Elite 8).
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30%
Over the last several games, it has definitely appeared that Loyer is going through some things with his jump shot behind the arc. A lot of that has to do with the high level of shooting he has established for himself but the numbers back up that struggle. Over the last seven games, Loyer has shot just 30% from behind the arc (15/50). That’s would normally be an issue but Loyer has continued to show confidence in his shot and a willingness and ability to get into the lane and finish at the rim. That has led to Loyer still being an effective scorer with 19 and 20 in the last two games.
49.4
Loyer has never really struggled offensively during his four seasons at Purdue. He has been one of the best shooters since he stepped on campus but has evolved into a three level scorer this season with the ability to finish near the rim. That was something he just seemed to really struggle with up until this season.
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Over the last several years, Fletch has taken it right on the chin when it comes to struggling defensively. Fans seemed to place him squarely in the crosshairs for those struggles last season with teams seemingly going right at him at key moments. It became very clear though that Loyer improved his strength in the off season and that has very clearly helped offensively but also defensively. Loyer appears he will have a career high in rebounds, blocks, and is making a heavy impact on the defensive end.
College Basketball Analytics has an individual net ratings stat and Loyer is at the top of most impactful players in the B1G. How impactful? His +49.4 total net rating is more than seven points higher than Yaxel Lendeborg from Michigan. That’s just incredible and shows the impact Loyer has when he frequently gets overlooked for Smith and TKR.
3
Since their early season struggles rebounding the ball, Purdue has clearly cleaned up that part of their game. In fact, the Boilers had been outrebounded in their first two games of the season when they were without TKR. His return has clearly made a difference as the Boilers had outrebounded every opponent until their game against the Badgers. That means in fourteen games this season, Purdue has been outrebounded just 3 times. It is a focus that rarely doesn’t make it onto CMP’s white board before a game and typically is a reason why a team wins. In a game where Purdue shot the ball well and sort of relaxed too much once they were up 25, it didn’t come back to hurt them. That might be because….
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7
… Purdue only turned the ball over 7 times. That is the second lowest of the season with the lowest of 5 coming against Oakland. Purdue has taken a big step forward in taking care of the ball from last year as Purdue is averaging just 10 turnovers per game, good for the 30th in the country (the lowest is 8.7 from Temple). That focus is another one of the main things that stays on CMP’s white board for the simple fact that if Purdue doesn’t turn the ball over to give extra possessions to their opponent while maintaining their level of offensive efficiency, Purdue is a difficult team to beat.
7…again
Once again the offensive output for the Boilers proved hard to contend with as all five starters were in double figures. Through the first 14 games of the season, Purdue has had 7 games where at least five players have scored in double figures. The important piece seems to be that since the loss to Iowa State, Purdue has achieved that in four of the five games with eight different players. The only players to not hit double figures that see regular minutes has been Omar Mayer and it seems as though the highly regarded true freshman is due to a big step forward offensively.
33.45
Purdue is going to hang its’ hat not on overwhelming a team with pace but they will wear a team down with their efficiency. That’s what has made them the adjusted offensive efficiency leaders through fourteen games this season at 129.3 (points scored per 100 possessions & adjusted for opponents). When you also take into account the massive jump defensively Purdue has taken with a Kenpom defensive adjusted efficiency of 95.8 (same metrics as offensive), Purdue is at a +33.45 for their net rating of the two. That is the best mark Purdue has ever had since the daily archives on Kenpom became available in 2012 (that 2010 team may have a better mark but we can’t be sure).
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Thanks to Cobra Stats for this information pull!
3-0
Purdue moved to 3-0 to start the B1G season which is the first time that has happened since they started 12-0 back in 2017-2018 season. With all of Purdue’s success over the last four seasons, this next one may sound a bit hard to believe on the surface. Think back to slips Purdue has had in December the last several seasons against Rutgers, Penn State, and Northwestern and the awful early season losses flood back after being blocked from memory. Purdue has a chance to really run that record up with games coming up at home against Washington, Penn State, and #25 Iowa.
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That Iowa game starts a stretch that is brutal though with a trip to #24 USC and UCLA and then games against #20 Illinois and Indiana. That isn’t the most difficult stretch either with Purdue having to play #13 Nebraska, #25 Iowa, #2 Michigan, Indiana, and #9 MSU in five consecutive games.
100
The victory in Wisconsin was the 100th victory for the senior class of TKR, Smith, and Loyer. That is the eighth fastest class to reach that mark in B1G history, having done it in just 124 games. Their record of 100-24 could lead them to the best senior class overall record if they can grab 16 more wins as last years senior class had a program record of 116. That would be a tough achievement but not totally out of the realm of possibility if Purdue can make long runs in the BTT and NCAAT where they could have as many as 26 games left on the schedule.
