Purdue’s trip out west did not start out on a pretty foot. Purdue played poorly, saw its star point guard go down early, and though Braden Smith would return to the court and Purdue would record its 9th straight win when it hung on 69-64 against USC.
Now Purdue hopes to have a healthy Smith after banging knees twice against the Trojans as the Boilers look to finish its two game California swing.
Advertisement
The final leg will be against what looks like a not very good UCLA team that will want its first marquee win of the season.
#4 Purdue 17-1 (7-0) at UCLA 12-6 (4-3)
Purdue remains at the top of the Big Ten with Nebraska, but its schedule is just starting to show its teeth.
UCLA has taken advantage of an easy early slate to get to four wins, but against good teams, its struggled. It doesn’t have a win against a top-50 Kenpom team and has nothing on its resume that suggests it’s going to be a tournament team.
But Mick Cronin is a good basketball coach and there are players on UCLA.
Can it make its first statement against a Purdue team that’s struggling to put a good forty minutes together?
Advertisement
Familiar names lead charge for UCLA
Tyler Bilodeau is back and averaging 18.5 points a game for UCLA. Skyy Clark is scoring 13.5 points a game. Trent Perry and Xavier Booker provide two more 40+% three point shooters for the Bruins, but neither UCLA’s offense or defense have caught a groove this season. Both are hovering around 50th best in the country according to Kenpom.
UCLA has been bullied inside on both sides of teh floors. The guards are talented. The team is skilled. It can shoot. It makes UCLA a dangerous team for an upset, but it doesn’t have the big men play inside to take on some of the more physical teams in the Big Ten. It’ll have its hands full going up against the best big man combo in the Big Ten on the glass with Oscar Cluff and Trey Kaufman-Renn.
UCLA also isn’t turning teams over the way it was last year to make up for its lack of size and play on the glass. Bruins are one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the country. Teams are rebounding nearly a third of its misses against the Bruins. Purdue is one of the best teams on the glass in the country. Purdue got out rebounded by USC on Saturday. That could be fatal for UCLA. Purdue has responded loudly from poor rebounding performances this season with some of its best efforts.
UCLA also isnt great at getting to its strength. Despite being a jump shooting team, it doesn’t get a lot of three pointers up. It makes them when it does, but its offense has really been a slog this year. It lacks elite play making and ball handling.
Advertisement
TKR slumping
Trey Kaufman-Renn has been at Purdue for five seasons now. We’re way past doubting his ability to produce. Kaufman-Renn was an All-American last year after averaging 20.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists a game.
Kaufman-Renn has yet to get to 20 points in a game this season.
Part of that, a large part, is credit to Kaufman-Renn’s continued sacrifice for Purdue. Kaufman-Renn took the lion’s share of Purdue’s scoring out of necessity last season. This year, he’s raised his effort and rebounding to a level Painter has often commented that he’s never seen before. People don’t get that much better at rebounding all of a sudden, but that’s exactly what Kaufman-Renn has done. TKR is averaging 9.7 rebounds a game this season. He has the 19th best offensive rebound rate in the country despite playing with the second best offensive rebounder in the country.
But with Smith going out for stretches against USC and Purdue’s offense struggling with CJ Cox and Fletcher Loyer both going 0-3 from three, Kaufman-Renn’s offensive slump was highlight as Purdue for one of the few times this season struggled to find points. Purdue has the nation’s best offense in the country and it’s not been close. Kaufman-Renn willingness to fill needs instead of the scoreboard has been one of the least talked about storylines of the season for Purdue. Kaufman-Renn has earned the ball more but everyone on Purdue can score.
But as Purdue’s Big Ten schedule starts heading into games with the Michigan teams and rivals, points and mismatches inside are going to be more and more needed. TKR has averaged 8 points over the last three games while shooting 9 of 23 from the floor.
Advertisement
Purdue was desperate for a good TKR scoring night on Saturday. The tougher the opponents, the harder the environment, the more Purdue will need TKR’s rebounding and scoring.
Is Braden Smith healthy?
After banging knees twice, Smith was as hobbled and limited as we’ve seen him at Purdue. At times, he looked incapable of moving quickly. He had 6 turnovers, but despite that, was Purdue’s best scorer once again. He did just enough to help Purdue pull the win out. Purdue has had just two days to treat Smith and with an NCAA record on the line, the idea of Smith sitting out even a single game seems impossible. But what will Smith have? Can Purdue find enough help around him to leave this road trip 2-0?
This might be the most questions coming into a game for Purdue this season.
