- No. 20-ranked Purdue defeated Rutgers 68-50 at Jersey Mike's Arena on Thursday night to improve to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten standings.
- Purdue is 4-1 in the Big Ten for just the fifth time under Matt Painter (2025, 2023, 2018, 2011, 2008).
- The Boilermakers have now won four straight games by at least 18 points. Three of the wins have come against Big Ten foes.
- Purdue has won three straight Big Ten games by 18 or more points for the first time since Jan. 13-20, 2018.
- The 50 points allowed were the fewest in a Big Ten game since holding Minnesota to 39 points on Jan. 19, 2023.
- Purdue held two of the top four scorers in the league (Ace Bailey – 17 points, 5-15 FGs; Dylan Harper – 6 points, 2-9 FGs) to a combined 23 points. They entered the game averaging 40 points between them.
- It marks the second straight game that Purdue has held the league's leading scorers well below their average (Northwestern's Brooks Barnhizer and Nick Martinelli combined for 21 points).
- Purdue is now 19-2 in the month of January since the start of the 2022-23 season.
- The Boilermakers are now 104-23 since the start of the 2021-22 season, trailing only Houston (106) for wins in that span. Caleb Furst's 104 wins are tied for the fourth most by a senior class in school history.
- Purdue won for the first time since Feb. 19, 2019 (48-46 over Indiana) when shooting under 20 percent from 3-point range (4-of-24) and 50 percent from the free throw line (8-of-16). Purdue was 24-of-32 (.750) from two-point range.
- The starting backcourt of Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer are now 75-15 as starters in the Purdue lineup.
- Purdue committed just eight turnovers, its fourth straight game with 11 or fewer turnovers. In the first 12 games, Purdue had just four games of 11 or fewer turnovers.
- Purdue has won 20 straight games when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent.
- Fletcher Loyer joined the 1,000-point club with 13 points, now with 1,009 career points. His backcourt mate, Braden Smith, surpassed the mark last Thursday.
- Braden Smith had 16 points, 14 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals, his 17th career double-double. Smith now has 16 career point-assist double-doubles, the most for a Big Ten player in the last 20 years.
- Smith now has 588 career assists, now 21st on the Big Ten's career assists list, playing in just his 90th career game.
- Smith is now averaging 15.4 points and 8.9 assists per game. In Big Ten play, Smith is averaging 17.6 points and 9.2 assists per game.
- Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, having scored at least 10 points in all 16 games.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 16 points apiece to lead No. 20 Purdue to a 68-50 win over Rutgers on Thursday night.
Smith, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, had 14 assists.
Fletcher Loyer added 13 points, giving him 1,009 for his career. He joined Smith in the 1,000-point barrier, which Smith accomplished earlier in the week.
The Boilermakers (12-4, 4-1 Big Ten) have won four straight for the second time this season. They opened the season on a four-game win streak.
Freshman sensation Ace Bailey led Rutgers (8-8, 1-4) with 17 points. Tyson Acuff added 10 points.
This was the second consecutive game in which the Scarlet Knights trailed throughout. They have dropped four of their last five games.
Rutgers' other talented freshman, Dylan Harper, who has been slowed down by the flu over the past week, scored six points in 28 minutes.
Bailey and Harper had combined to score an average of 40 points per game entering Thursday.
Takeaways
Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights were not able to put together sustainable runs with their two top scorers struggling. The most unanswered burst they had was a 6-0 blip.
Purdue: The Boilermakers continued to have a sparkling assists-to-turnover ratio. They dished out 18 makers and committed just eight turnovers. Purdue has just 30 turnovers over its last four games.
Key moment
Rutgers got to within five points (46-41), before the Boilermakers went on a 9-0 run to increase its lead to 55-41 with 8:28 to play.
Key stat
Rutgers committed 16 turnovers, which led to 11 points from Purdue.