Boilers Slash Scarlett Knights 68-50 Behind Another B1G Night from Smith

A 16 point and 14 assist game highlights a stretch that is putting Smith front and center for B1G Player of the Year

Piscataway has been a source of frustration as of late for the Purdue Boilermakers as they had struggled against the Rutgers Scarlett Knights more often than not over the last several years. This year, however, the Boilers played even keeled against a very young but talented team to grab an 68-50 victory in an important road game. The shooting from behind the arc was a horror show of it’s own though.

The shooting started off looking like it was going to be a heat check type of night for Loyer as he nailed the first shot of the game for the Boilers but a foul by TKR negated the made basket (he had a second one waived off as well for the same thing in the second half). It quickly got off the rails for the Boilers from behind the arc as they would struggle to shooting just 4-24 from three for the game.

It was apparent early on that Rutgers, without a true point guard, was going to struggle against a Purdue team that has seemingly found their feet over the last several games defensively. Rutgers had 12 first half turnovers and 16 for the game but Purdue was only able to generate 11 points from those. The Boilers, though, only turned it over 8 times themselves which Rutgers only turned into 4 points.

Smith had another maestro like game where he seemingly could generate any kind of look he wanted, not only for himself, but for every single one of his teammates. Whether it was the pocket passes to TKR, cross-court skip passes to wings, fast break dump offs behind his back to Loyer, or alley-oops in transition, Smith showed what a high level point guard can do against a team that doesn’t have an elite perimeter defender. His 14 assists are the second most this season (15; Texas A&M-CC) and the 4th most in single game for his career (16; Northwester-2024).

The story for Rutgers was the inability to get their fabulous freshman going as Harper and Bailey both seemed to struggle against the swarming team defense that Purdue has featured. While Bailey was able to score 17, which is near his average, Harper struggled to just 6 points. Harper, who has been dealing with severe flu symptoms that saw him lose 9 pounds over the last several days, just looked off kilter and unable to get his legs underneath him. The meant a third scoring option would have to take the load and it just didn’t come as Tyson Acuff was the second leading scorer with just 10 points.

Meanwhile, Purdue’s other players had good nights even with the struggles from behind the arc. TKR, even struggling with foul trouble for another game, dominated inside to 16 points on 6-8 shooting from the field. His free throw shooting woes appeared again as he went just 4-8, an issue for the entire team as they shot just 8-16 for the game and missed the front end of 1 and 1’s on multiple occasions. TKR also grabbed 5 rebounds and only turned it over twice.

Loyer, although having two threes wiped from his state sheet, had 16 points and 3 rebounds but shot 6-14 from the field and 1-6 from behind the arc (going 3-8 looks exponentially). It stands to be rationalized that had that first three not been wiped away, Loyer likely sees more shots go down and has a bigger night as all of his shot attempts were largely wide open (he had a three where he was clearly fouled by Harper called as a blocked shot as well).

With the big three having a typical strong showing, it was again up to others to pick up the slack left behind and Caleb Furst was more than willing to do so. Since getting inserted into the starting lineup, Furst has been a source of energy and inspiration for a team that seemingly was stuck in neutral on both ends of the floor. Furst was strong and made quick decisions when passed the ball inside, highlighted by a big left handed dunk off a pass from Smith in the first half. The lone senior for Purdue finished with 7 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, and 1 steal.

This was very easily a game that, on a typical shooting night, is likely to have been a 30 point or more victory for the Boilers. It is a game where, when they had Zach Edey, would have been a game he had 30+ points on 16 or more shot attempts as Purdue looked to just grind a game away. This is a good omen for a team that found out it can win games when they don’t shoot well and to find how to do just that with their defense and shot creation.

That shot creation was highlighted by a play with 7:05 left in the game. With Purdue leading 57-43 and in the midst of a game defining run, TKR passed out to Harris who was open on the right wing. As a Rutgers player closed out, he shot faked, took a step to the left and dribbled into the midrange. When another Rutgers defender stepped in, Harris again pump faked and dumped to a wide open Furst for a slam. It is that sort of ball movement and decision making that highlights the growth of this Purdue team so far this season.

The Boilers now stand at 4-1 in B1G play with a home game against Nebraska before a west coast swing against Washington and Oregon. The Boilers will then return back to Mackey Arena to enjoy their three game home stand against Ohio State, Michigan, and Indiana. That would be the halfway point for Purdue in conference and one that realistically could find the Boilers at 8-2 with a tough second half awaiting them.