Kaufmann-Renn Rewards Mackey Maniacs

Kaufmann-Renn Rewards Mackey Maniacs

by Shawn Martin
Excelhsports.com columnist

Stock Photo by: Tony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

PURDUE 83 ILLINOIS 78

While the reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey did eventually record another Double-Double in top ranked Purdue’s 83-78 victory in front of a sold out and raucous Mackey Arena crowd Friday night, his contributions – at least offensively – were somewhat subdued.

The 7-foot four-inch Canadian had 10 points and 15 rebounds in less than 23 minutes of court time. Edey had two points at halftime – he had the same   number of fouls. His second foul came 23 seconds after his first and sent the All American to the bench for the rest of the first half – 8 minutes and three seconds.

Purdue led 24-17 at that juncture.

A minute later, Illinois 5th year forward Quincy Guerrier dunked to cut the Purdue lead – once 16 points – to three with seven minutes remaining in the opening half.

It appeared the Boilermakers had squandered a terrific start which had ignited the Purdue faithful into a frenzy.

That 15-2 run by the Illini was stopped by back-to-back threes by senior Mason Gillis and sophomore Fletcher Loyer. Loyer’s high school teammate Luke Goode (Homestead) answered Loyer’s bomb with one of his own.

Purdue closed out the opening stanza with a 17-6 run over five minutes and twelve seconds to lead 47-32 at the break.

Trey Kaufman-Renn had taken advantage of the Illini’s focus on containing Edey by almost equaling his season scoring average in the first twelve minutes of the game. The 6-9 sophomore from Sellersburg Indiana was only getting started.

After Edey took a seat on the Boilermaker bench with the two quick first half whistles, Kaufman-Renn hit six of six from the free throw line and had 12 points as they headed for the lockers.

He added six more points in the first 3:11 of the second half. After a layup with 7:06 left, he found himself catching the ball just right of the key where he lined up a shot from beyond the arc that had most Mackey Maniacs gasping.

SWOOSH!

The crowd exploded!

His 23 points were what Illinois coach Brad Underwood gambled – hoped – would not happen when trying to contain Edey. You have to pick your poison when playing this team.

Sophomore point guard Brayden Smith had 14 points, six assists, and six rebounds. Lance Jones was solid all game and finished with 17 points. Mason Gillis provided toughness and eight points, and eight rebounds for Matt Painter’s crew.

Illinois got off to a horrendous start, falling behind five-nothing, 11-2, and 20-4. It was a hole they could never quite dig out of.

They had the aforementioned 15-2 run that cut the lead to three. Later, after Purdue recorded their largest lead of the night – 21 points with 12:47 left in the game – Illinois had an 18-8 spurt that cut the lead almost in half with just under six minutes left. Purdue would rebuild some of the lead, but Illinois would not quit.

They cut the lead to three – as close as they had been since midway in the first half – with 14 seconds left after 6-10 Coleman Hawkins nailed a three from the right wing. Two Smith free throws finished the scoring for the game.

Illinois (11-3, 2-1) was led by Marcus Domask, who played all 40 minutes of the game. He had 26 points and five assists. Domask, is simply not only one of the best players in the B1G but also in the nation and he showed his ability to the fullest at Mackey Arena.

Guerrier added 18, Goode 16, and Hawkins 11.

The Illini were soundly beaten on the boards – Purdue won the rebound game 43-28. Of the 43, eighteen were offensive and led to 21 Boilermaker points.

Purdue moves to 14-1, 3-1 and will play at Nebraska on Tuesday. Illinois will host Michigan State Thursday.

Purdue is ranked #1 by Excel H Sports while Illinois came into the game ranked #6 by Excel H Sports.

Excel H Sports Mens College basketball rankings January, 1, 2024 – Excel High School Sports

(The following is credited to Purdue University Athletics)

• No. 1-ranked Purdue improved to 14-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten Conference with an 83-78 win over No. 9-ranked Illinois at Mackey Arena. The win was Purdue’s seventh straight win overall and fourth straight against the Illini.
• Purdue’s 14-1 start through 15 games marks its second straight 14-1 start and matches the best 15-game start in school history (done five other times à 2021-22, 2010-11, 2009-10, 1993-94, 1987-88).
• Purdue improved to 6-4 all-time in top-10 matchups at Mackey Arena. The contest was the first top-10 game in Mackey Arena since Jan. 1, 2010, vs. West Virginia.
• Head coach Matt Painter improved to 9-4 all-time in top-10 matchups, including 4-0 this year (wins over No. 7 Tennessee, No. 4 Marquette, No. 1 Arizona and No. 9 Illinois).
• Purdue is now 43-7 over its last 50 games, tied for the best record in a 50-game stretch in school history (started with first game of 2022-23 season).
• Purdue is now 15-5 all-time as the nation’s No. 1-ranked team.
• The win was Purdue’s 11^th victory against a quad-1, 2 or 3 opponents, including its nation’s-best fifth quad-1 win. Only one team, Colorado State, has even nine wins against the top-3 quads.
• Purdue is 5-0 against nationally ranked teams this year and has the third-most wins over nationally ranked teams since the start of the 2017-18 season (33).
• Purdue has five wins over teams ranked in the AP Top 11. No other team has more than two victories.
• Purdue owns the nation’s best winning percentage over nationally ranked teams since the start of the 2021-22 season (14-5; .737).
• The victory was Purdue’s 10^th straight in the month of January, tied for the fourth-longest streak in the country.
• Illinois entered the game ranked seventh nationally in rebound margin. Purdue outrebounded the Illini by 15 (43-28).
• Purdue is 18-of-39 (.462) from 3-point range in the last two games.
• With the win, Purdue has taken over the league’s best record over the last four years (start of 2020-21 season) from Illinois (Purdue 45-18; Illinois 44-19).
• Purdue is now 80-3 since the start of the 2017-18 season when scoring 80 or more points.
• Zach Edey recorded his 48^th career double-double with 10 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots. He notched his 66^th consecutive game scoring in double-figures.
• Edey became the second player in school history (Joe Barry Carroll) and 17^th Big Ten player to surpass the 1,000-rebound mark for his career. Edey now has 1,006 career rebounds.
• Trey Kaufman-Renn was one point shy of a career high, scoring 23 points with four rebounds and two assists. Kaufman-Renn was 8-of-12 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
• Over the last four games, Kaufman-Renn is averaging 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists, while shooting 19-of-31 (.613) from the field, 3-of-5 (.600) from long range and 10-of-12 (.833) from the free throw line.
• Braden Smith scored 14 points with six rebounds and six assists for his eighth game this year of at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists – the second-highest total in the country (Western Carolina’s Vonterius Woolbright – 9).
• Lance Jones tied his season high with 17 points.