Boilers win the Final Four rematch behind a big game from Kaufman-Renn and will get the winner of BYU-Ole Miss
The Purdue Boilermakers played a steady game against a very good NC State team that had built a reputation on turning their opponents over and getting fast break points. Today, however, the Boilers only had 6 turnovers and limited the Wolfpack to just 8 fast break points after averaging 18 forced turnovers and 25 points in fast break per game.
The Boilers started off strong with a 14-2 run to take a 9 point lead in the first half by getting some quick buckets in transition, something they had not do a lot this season. That was highlighted by a Braden Smith to Cam Heide alley-oop dunk that punctuated a big day from the the sophomore wing who was moved into the starting lineup just one game prior. Heide finished the day with 15 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 3-5 from behind the arc.
High-flyin’.
: FS1 pic.twitter.com/e9BvE7LzKT
— Purdue Men’s Basketball (@BoilerBall) November 28, 2024
The player of the game, though, was against Trey Kaufman-Renn. The junior big man has benefitted immensely from Edey’s departure and has scored in double figures in each of the seven games this season. With his 22 points and 8 rebounds today, TKR is now averaging 18.3 points per game and looks like a first team All B1G type of player. Purdue even flashed a new look as TKR ran the PNR as the ball handler, which he scored on multiple times today against a very good set of bigs from NCST.
A bit troubling is the issues that Fletcher Loyer continues to have to find open shots from behind the arc. The junior guard, shooting 62% from behind the arc entering the game, found only three shots from behind the arc with two of those really being some what forced. However, he did end up with 10 points on 5-6 free throws after he used his ability to get into the lane to draw fouls. That will be increasingly important for him to use to score to ease that pressure from opposing defenders that want to take away that three point shot.
Purdue really seemed to limit their lineup today as the Boilers only played seven players more than ten minutes. Even with that, the Boilers struggled to finish at the rim going just 14-28 on layups but scored an incredibly efficient 1.224 points per possession. This was a game that, although it was a ten point win, seemed much more like a twenty point win instead.
The Boilers will take on the winner of the BYU–Ole Miss game that features former Purdue recruit Kanon Catchings.