You could tell early on, it would be a long game.
The struggle away from home continues for Purdue. Not only did the Boilermakers fall to 8-4 on the season, where they have lost three of their last four, but they lost on the road again, which is becoming one of the few consistent parts of this early season.
Auburn never winced in a de-facto home game in nearby Birmingham, leading to an 87 to 69 trouncing over Purdue. At the under-16 timeout in the first half, Purdue held a slight lead, just 11 to 10, and after Auburn went on a quick run to make it 15 to 11, Purdue responded tying the game at 15 all.
But, after that, the wheels fell off.
At halftime, the Boilers trailed 15, and that lead ballooned to 32 with seven minutes remaining in the game.
There is no sugarcoating this one, Purdue was taken to the woodshed, which does not often happen to Matt Painter-led basketball teams. But Auburn, who should be a favorite to win it all, showed why they are ranked #2.
The Tigers outplayed Purdue in every single category, aside from free throw % today.
They had more assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, fewer turnovers, and shot a better % from the field, which is all a recipe for a blowout loss for Purdue.
Trey Kaufman-Renn led the way for Purdue, scoring 15 points on 70% shooting, while corralling 8 rebounds, while he battled with surefire All-American and potential NPOY Johni Broome.
But aside from TKR, Loyer was the only other starter to score in double figures with just 11. Smith ended the evening with 8 points and 6 assists, but he also had 5 turnovers.
CJ Cox continued his solid play over the last few games. He came off the bench to play 19 minutes, scoring 16 points. He and Burgess paired nicely late in the game, where the duo helped cut the lead from 32 to a more respectable 18-point loss.
Purdue has had one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country this year and they may have over-scheduled themselves a bit in the first year of the post Zach Edey Era. There is no doubt that the loss of Daniel Jacobsen has shown to be a major blow to this team, which now has an undersized frontcourt.
The obvious lack of rim protection is killing Purdue defensively, and TKR is having to battle true centers with his back-to-the-basket game, whereas he usually would have a smaller power forward on him.
The curious case is the pace of play Purdue continues to play with, as they have one of the slowest paces of play in the nation. With a point guard like Smith, and wings that can run, jump and shoot like Colvin and Heide, I would not hate to see the pace ramp up some.
Purdue will look to bounce back next Sunday, when they host Toledo at Mackey Arena.