The Three Pointer: Purdue (0-0) vs. Texas A&M-CC (0-0)

The Boilers kick of their 2024-2025 season against a solid mid-major program that has made two of the last three NCAA Tourneys

Following the first Final Four appearance since 1980 and the first National Title Game since 1969, the Purdue Boilermakers will tipoff the 2024-2025 season against a very good mid-major program in Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Although they lost National Player of the Year Zach Edey to the NBA, transfer Lance Jones, and B1G 6th Man of the Year Mason Gillis (Duke Bluedevils), the Boilers still return three starters from last years team, an assortment of experienced players, and some true freshman that are set to make a major impact.

The Boilers will be led by preseason B1G Player of the Year Braden Smith who will likely be on triple-double watch most games this season with the increased experience and responsibility for scoring and rebounding. Alongside him in the backcourt will be fellow junior guard Fletcher Loyer who took a major step forward last season after a disappointing end to his freshman campaign. Loyer, a long and lean guard who is one of the nation’s best shooters, shot 44.4% from behind the arc and averaged 10.3 points per game. They’ll be joined by freshman guard Gicarri Harris, a wide-bodied guard with the ability to play a similar role to that of Lance Jones with his tenacity for defense, shot making ability, and ability to take pressure off Smith and Loyer as an additional ball handler.

The major question will come from how big of a leap can Trey Kaufman-Renn make and who will join him on the frontline. TKR is likely going to be the biggest beneficiary to Edey’s leap to the NBA as he’ll get more minutes and more opportunities in the low post where is one of the best scorers in the country. Who will join him there is the biggest question for Matt Painter to sort out. There are options there with sophomore Will Berg and freshman Daniel Jacobsen being the most likely candidates but don’t overlook senior Caleb Furst who holds experience and trust for the staff and who may actually be the best low post defender Purdue has on the roster.

Texas A&M-CC comes in to this season having made two of the last three NCAA Tourneys, albeit while being led by former Purdue Assistant Coach and current Oklahoma State Head Coach Steve Lutz. Last season, the first for head coach Jim Shaw, saw the Islanders go 21-12 and finish second in their conference. They return 60.6% of minutes played last season and 65.6% of scoring from last season (to compare, Purdue returns 54.2% of minutes played and 46.3% of scoring). They were selected to finish fourth in the preseason Southland Conference poll.

Let’s get into ‘The Three Pointer!’

1 | Establish TKR Early & Often

It will be said time and time again that Zach Edey is longer with the Boilermakers and Purdue fans will likely get as sick of hearing that as they did each and every announcer proclaiming his time playing hockey and baseball as though it was new information. We get it, it’s likely the biggest hole a program will have to have filled in the B1G since Mateen Cleaves won Michigan State a national championship and went to the NBA the next season. So what will Purdue do (he said with sarcastic tones)?

Enter Trey Kaufman-Renn.

TKR is one of the most gifted low post scorers in the country and that includes guys like Hunter Dickinson (seriously, he is still playing at Kansas), Omar Ballo (Indiana), Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton), Johni Broome (Auburn), and Great Osobor (Washington). The issue he has played behind arguably one of the greatest big men in college basketball history. So what a time to make a name for yourself than in the first game in the season.

Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Matt Painter has long been extremely positive about TKR’s ceiling and his ability as a player. Following the exhibition against Grand Valley State, Painter said that he often struggled with passing the ball so they wanted to see him improve in that regard. He has done so according to the head coach and his teammates. That’s one part that made Purdue so difficult with big guys like Edey, Trevion Williams, and Caleb Swanigan.

TKR will need to show his ability to score down low (as he already has shown) but more importantly a need to pass out of double teams and find open shooters for a team that can roll out four 40% or better three point shooters from last year plus two freshman guards who have that ability as well.

This is TKR’s show in the post now. It’s his time to show what he can do.

2 | Braden Smith’s Selfishness

Don’t take that with a negative connotation. In fact, for Purdue to really be good this season Smith probably needs to be a bit more selfish when it comes to scoring and shooting the ball. We saw a bit of that against Creighton where he went for 31 points but he also clearly looked like the best player on the floor for either team (that includes potential All American and NBA first rounder Ryan Kalkbrenner).

Smith has long been a point guard who has looked to get his teammates involved, knowing that the sum of the parts is often greater than any single guy. While that may be true in most situations, even for this installment of the Boilers, Smith needs to sometime just take over the game through his scoring ability at all three levels. In fact, there may not be as talented of a three level scorer in the country from the guard positions as Smith is. Notably, his midrange jumper is as deadly as they come.

Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Smith is as high level of a point guard from all aspects as Purdue has had since Troy Lewis but to make up the difference from losing 25.2 points per game needs to come from somewhere. Smith’s high level scoring may see him go from 12 points per game to near 20. That kind of ‘selfishness’ may be needed, especially late in games.

3 | Get The Freshman Experience

The schedule doesn’t provide a lot of time for those freshman who are going to be needed this season to get acclimated. The Boilers get Texas A&M-CC and Northern Kentucky before a stretch that’ll see them play Alabama, Yale, Marquette, and NC State in the span of five games. Those are two final four teams, a one seed, and a team that upset Duke in round 1. Needless to say, it’ll be right into the deep end for the young guns.

It’ll likely be Gicarri Harris, CJ Cox, and Daniel Jacobsen taking the brunt of the responsibility for the freshman to make an impact. Jacobsen’s 7’4 frame with his ability to block shots and step outside to shoot threes fills some immediate holes for the Boilers. Does he have it in him as a freshman with a thinner frame to be physical enough in the B1G and against these top flight opponents to give a boost to the Boilers? You can see the potential with him in a similar way as to how you saw it with other Boiler big men as freshman but remember he is just 18 and not the finished products you saw in Edey, Williams, or even Haarms. He’ll get there but there will be some major bumps in the road.

The two guards, however, appear ready to step in immediately. Matt Painter spoke profusely after the exhibition with against GVSU about CJ Cox’s intangibles and his ability to make shots at a high level while the Boilermaker head coach has spoken similarly about Harris’ ability. While those two likely won’t shoulder much burden on the offensive end, they’ll be needed to defend at a high level against opposing team’s primary ball handler. Getting that experience now will go a long way when the grind of the B1G season rolls around.

And 1 | Get Colvin Rolling

There may not be a player in the conference or the country who holds the ability to come into a game and immediately become a threat to score like Colvin has. It is so clear the level of potential he holds in regards to his offensive ability, specifically in the catch-and-shoot realm that pairs so wonderfully with Braden Smith. Colvin can be a microwave kind of player for Purdue and can flip a game in favor of the Boilers or push a lead to an insurmountable one. He did several times last season for the Boilers and with a year of experience he should get more of those opportunities.

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Let’s not kid ourselves here about Colvin. He is a starter caliber player at most other B1G schools coming off the bench for the Boilers. He averaged just 3.3 points in just 8.8 minutes per game but he likely will see his minutes continue to increase if he can be a steady force on both ends of the floor. He may actually be Purdue’s most confident shooter outside of Braden Smith.

Who To Watch For

Gary Clark | Forward | Senior | 6’7 202lb | 13.2pts, 8.1 reb, 26.3% 3pt

Clark is a long and athletic forward who led the Islanders in scoring last season while being named to the Southland’s First Team All Conference Team. Season high last season was 26 points with 10 double-doubles.

Dian Wright-Forde | Guard | Senior | 6’3 210lbs | 10.4pts, 2.6 reb, 1.6 ast, 25.7% 3pt

Wright-Forde only started three games last year for the Islanders but was second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.4 points per game. The senior is a bigger bodied guard who may present problems for Smith and Loyer who had a season high of 23 points last season.

Prediction

This is a game against a quality mid-major over the last several years. Although they don’t have Steve Lutz there anymore, this is still a program with expectations of competing for their conference title this season and making a run to the NCAA Tourney. This is a great first game for the Boilers to get a feel, in real game situations, to get a sense of what they need to improve on. That Creighton prep can’t be overstated in how improved the team looked against Grand Valley State (yes, I know they were overmatched but that’s as good as I have seen a Purdue team in an exhibition game from a total team aspect).

We’ll likely get a better sense of how playing time is going to shake out and it’s likely that Smith, Loyer, and TKR are going to eat up 30 minutes a piece. Where the other 120 minutes that need to be distributed go? I’ll leave that up to Matt Painter (#ImaTrustPaint).

Purdue: 94
Texas A&M-CC: 65