- 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 11th victory against a quad-1, 2 or 3 opponent, 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 10th 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 48th career double-double with 10 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots. He notched his 66th consecutive game scoring in double-figures.
- Edey became the second player in school history (Joe Barry Carroll) and 17th 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.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- If his team was going to lose, coach Brad Underwood wanted to make sure it was someone other than Zach Edey who beat Illinois on Friday night.
So that's exactly what Trey Kaufman-Renn did.
The redshirt sophomore scored a season-high 23 points, Lance Jones added 17 and No. 1 Purdue fended off a frantic late charge from the ninth-ranked Fighting Illini for an 83-78 victory.
"Trey Kaufman-Renn, man, I just told him out there in the hall he kicked our butt," Underwood said. "I think when you play Zach, you can't play normal. You have to try to make other players beat you and I think there's some risk with that and we saw that tonight."
Kaufman-Renn made eight of 12 shots, including a 3-pointer to briefly blunt Illinois as it was trying to erase a 21-point deficit in the final 13 minutes. The Boilermakers (14-1, 3-1 Big Ten) got their seventh straight win, this one in the first top-10 matchup at Mackey Arena since Jan. 1, 2010.
"I thought he was fabulous," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "He's probably the difference for us tonight."
Edey, the reigning national player of the year, spent the last eight minutes of each half in foul trouble. But as much as Illinois tried to deny him, Edey still wound up with 10 points and 15 rebounds while becoming the second Purdue player with 1,000 career boards. Only Joe Barry Carroll has more than Edey's 1,006.
Marcus Domask had 26 points and Quincy Guerrier finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Fighting Illini (11-3, 2-1), who had won four in a row.
The Illini never led in this one and dropped to 0-9 against No. 1 teams on the road.
But after falling behind 20-4, fighting back within three and then trailing by 21 with about 13 minutes left, Illinois made it interesting.
The Illini took advantage of a flagrant foul against Jones following a replay review to cut it to 81-75. They got within 81-78 when Coleman Hawkins made a 3 with 12.1 seconds to go, but Braden Smith answered with two free throws to seal it.
BIG PICTURE
Illinois: Mackey Arena has been a house of horrors for the Illini. That was still the case — even after they came in having topped 90 points in three straight games for the first time since December 1993. Illinois is 3-16 on the road when Purdue is ranked and 1-5 when both teams are in the top 10.
Purdue: Painter's team entered ranked No. 1 for good reason — the Boilermakers had three wins against top-10 foes. Adding a fourth Friday night matched the 2009-11 teams for the best 50-game stretch (43-7) in school history.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Illinois: Underwood's team will slide. How far will be determined by what happens around the country this weekend.
Purdue: The Boilermakers appear poised for a fourth consecutive week atop the rankings. They already have the longest active streak of consecutive weeks in the top five (25), and it's the second-longest streak by a Big Ten team in 45 years.