Furst Bursts Out & Leads Boilers to Nice 69-58 Road Victory

Boilers overcome a 22 point first half and an 8 point deficit behind Furst’s career high

Caleb Furst may have played the best of his career as a Boilermaker at the right time for a struggling team against the Washington Huskies to keep Purdue afloat in the first half. The lone senior for the Boilers grabbed a career high 15 points along with 6 rebounds, 4 steals (also a career high), and an emphatic block to wipe away a layup. It has been his insertion into the starting lineup, paired with CJ Cox, that has led to a turnaround for the season.

The first half, though, was probably the biggest struggle offensively that Purdue has had all season. Turnovers, lackluster decisions, and poor shooting led to just a 22 point effort in the first half where the Boilers only shot 10-22 from the field and failed to hit a three pointer for the first time in any half of a game this season.

Even with that struggle, the Boilers held a 12-8 lead until the Huskies went on a 10-0 run to take control of the first half. Washington did a lot of the same things that teams earlier in the season were able to do defensively against Purdue to throw their offense off kilter. Notably, blitzing Smith off the on ball screen led to lots of issues when Washington defenders were allowed to bump and push Smith off his space (there were likely six easily missed calls, notably Smith getting blown up and knocked over with no call).

With under 20 seconds left, Purdue was down 20-30 before they called TKR’s number out of a timeout in an attempt to gain some traction before the half ended. TKR was able to get to the rim and score with almost no time left and it seemed as that little bit of execution helped refocus for the second half where Purdue went right back to Trey.

To start that second half, Trey asserted himself with a bucket at the rim and it seemed as though Purdue had gained control of the game. Inevitably, the Boilers would 26 – 9 run over the first 9:49 of the half. After missing shots at the rim in the first half, TKR ended up leading the Boilers with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. However, a worrying trend of free throw struggles have come up again as he went just 3-7 tonight and 10-29 over the last seven games.

Along with TKR, it was Braden Smith who seemed to come alive in the second half and controlled the flow of the game. The Boilers, following a first half where they had 10 turnovers, they only had 4 in the second half with three coming from Smith. Two of those were not great but are turnovers you can largely live with beyond the pick-6 turnover that capped a 7-0 run to get the lead down to 62-54 with 2:25 remaining. Smith would finish the game with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals.

To seal the game, Loyer hit his second three which gave him 12 points on a night where he found it difficult to get shots. He preceded that three with taking a charge on the defensive end that really ended any hope that Washington may have had for a miraculous comeback. The effort Loyer put in outside of his offensive game was evident with 5 rebounds for a player that isn’t often tasked with crashing the boards.

This was a game that, although frustrating in the first half, was a key victory for the Boilers’ vision for not only another B1G Title but also trying to bump themselves up into the conversation for a 3 or 4 seed. The adjustments made in the second half and how Furst has continued to show improvement as he has garnered more and more minutes should not be overlooked. Furst playing like he did tonight, raises Purdue’s ceiling into a legitimate Final Four contender.

The Boilers will take the short trip to Oregon to play the Ducks on Saturday at 3:00pm. They will return home for three consecutive home games against Ohio State, Michigan, and Indiana.