Boilers Win First game post Edey

Boilers Win First Game Post Edey

by: Steven Stremming, Excel H Sports/USBWAA

photos by: Greg Flint, Excel H Sports/Flint Photography

Of course, everyone covering the Purdue Boilermakers will be watching with intent, on how they start the season minus the two-time Player of the Year, Zach Edey.

Despite turning the ball over 16 times in the game, the Boilers settled down and broke open a close game against Texas A & M Corpus Christi to win 90 to 73.

The Islanders brought back four of their five starters from their twenty-win 2023-24 team, and they were competitive throughout the game.

Purdue is looking early on for many things, including how does the team come together and how much did they depend on Edey last season.

Fletcher Loyer, Junior from Homestead High School filled the nets up early and often giving the Boilers an early advantage.

Silver Creek’s Trey Kaufman-Renn was steady in the paint and the extended area has he effectively rebounded while Myles Colvin, Heritage Christian High School graduate lit it up from behind the arc.

Then there is all first-team B1G Ten’s Westfield, Indiana’s Braden Smith who was solid from start to finish as he assisted on 15 scoring plays, scored 12 points and collected eight rebounds in 35 minutes of floor time.

Seven-three Freshman Daniel Jacobsen left his mark on the game with 13 points, three blocked shots and seven boards in his debut in Mackey Arena.

Cam Heide recorded three rebounds in his ten minutes off the Boiler bench while Will Berg added five points, despite just connecting on one of six free throws.

Texas A & M Corpus Christi played Purdue tough much of the game and during the second half of the game cut the Purdue margin to five points several times.

Corpus Christi was led by Evansville, Indiana native Owen Dease with 20 points, Gary Clark adding 14 and Isaac Williams 12 points and Dian Wright-Forde’s ten points off the Islander bench.

Loyer led the Boilers with 21 and Kaufman-Renn’s 15, Jacobsen’s 13 and Smith’s 12 while Myles Colvin would aid in the cause with 14 points on four of seven behind the arc.

Following provided by Purdue University Athletics

Purdue 90, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 73 (Postgame Notes)

• No. 14-ranked Purdue opened its season with a 90-73 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in front of the 74^th straight sellout in Mackey Arena.
• Purdue improved to 19-1 in season openers under Matt Painter, having won 12 straight openers by an average of 29.6 points per game.
• The win was Purdue’s 27^th straight home win against non-conference teams, now tied for the longest streak in Mackey Arena history.
• Purdue has won 22 straight games in the month of November, the second-longest streak in America behind Arizona.
• The win was Purdue’s 36^th straight regular-season win against a non-conference opponent, dating to a 58-54 loss at Miami, Florida, on Dec. 8, 2020. The 36 straight wins is now tied for the sixth-longest streak in NCAA history.
• The victory was Purdue’s 18^th straight home win overall, the sixth-longest streak nationally. The 18 straight home wins is tied for the fifth-longest streak in Mackey Arena history.
• Purdue is 52-1 in its last 53 games against unranked foes in Mackey Arena.
• Purdue is now 14-0 all-time against the current members of the Southland Conference.
• Purdue is now 93-3 since the 2017-18 season when scoring at least 80 points.
• Purdue is 69-6 since the 2017-18 season when making at least 10, 3-pointers.
• Purdue has won 26 straight games when shooting at least 48.0 percent from the field.
• Braden Smith’s 15 assists were the most for a Purdue player in a season opener in school history. He narrowly missed a triple-double with 12 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds.
• It marked Smith’s third career game of at least 15 assists. Only three players in the last 20 years have had more 15-assist games than Smith (Scott Machado, Kendall Marshall, Yuri Collins).
• Smith moved into a tie for sixth on the school’s career assists chart with 460.
• Fletcher Loyer tallied 21 points and made his 125^th career 3-pointer in the victory.
• Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 15 points with a career-high nine rebounds and three assists.
• In his first career game, Daniel Jacobsen had 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 25 minutes.
• Myles Colvin tallied a career-high 14 points with four rebounds.