- No. 18 Purdue fell to 21-10 overall and 13-7 in the Big Ten with an 88-80 setback to Illinois on Friday night in Champaign. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak against the Illinois and was Purdue's fourth straight road loss.
- Since the 2009 Big Ten Tournament, Purdue is now 19-7 against Illinois.
- Purdue shot 50.8 percent from the field and finished the Big Ten season, shooting over 50 percent from the field in 14 games. The Boilermakers finished the Big Ten season shooting 50.3 percent from the field, the third-highest percentage in Big Ten play in the last 30 years.
- Purdue fell to 14-3 in the month of March since the start of the 2022-23 season.
- Purdue fell to 106-5 under Matt Painter when scoring at least 80 points.
- Braden Smith recorded his 18th career double-double and ninth double-double of the season with 18 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, narrowly missing Purdue's first triple-double in almost 50 years.
- Smith now has 506 points, 272 assists, 145 rebounds and 70 steals on the season. He becomes the fourth player in NCAA history to have at least 500 points, 270 assists, 140 rebounds and 70 steals in a season (BYU's Kyle Collinsworth, California's Jason Kidd and Georgia Tech's Kenny Anderson).
- Smith finished Big Ten play with 175 assists (8.8 per game), smashing the previous league record of 157 by Michigan State's Cassius Winston (2018-19). Smith averaged 17.4 points, 8.8 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game in league play.
- Braden Smith has 717 assists in his first three seasons at Purdue – the most for any Big Ten player by the end of his junior season. His 717 assists are the eighth most for a player in NCAA history through his junior season.
- Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 29 points with seven rebounds. It marked his 15th, 20-point game of the season, the third most in the Big Ten Conference. Kaufman-Renn finished the Big Ten season averaging 20.5 points per game in league play.
- Kaufman-Renn and Smith became the first duo to each score over 500 points since Jaden Ivey and Zach Edey did so in 2022. The pair is averaging 36.1 points per game between them.
- Kaufman-Renn is averaging 22.7 points per game over the last 13 contests.
- Fletcher Loyer scored 14 points.
- Gicarri Harris scored eight points and went 2-of-2 from 3-point range. In the last two games, Harris has 19 points in 30 minutes, going 4-of-6 from from long distance.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Kasparas Jakucionis hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to put Illinois ahead for good, and the Illini rallied past No. 18 Purdue 88-80 on Friday night.
Illinois (20-11, 12-8 Big Ten) trailed 63-53 with 11:34 to go, but outscored the Boilermakers 13-1 in the final two minutes to win its third in a row after losing three straight.
Will Riley led five Illinois players in double figures with 22 points. Tre White had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Jakucionis had 10 points and seven assists.
Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 29 points for Purdue (21-10, 13-7) and Braden Smith had 18 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, falling just short of the second triple-double in team history.
Takeaways
Purdue: Smith is among the favorites for Big Ten Player of the Year. Kaufman-Renn, the team's leading scorer, also deserves consideration because he's the Boilermakers' only inside threat.
Key moment
Riley made a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer to end a personal seven-point run and get Illinois within 42-40.
Key stat
The teams combined for 32 3-pointers in their previous game, with the Boilermakers making 18. But Purdue went inside against Illinois this time, outscoring the Illini 44-28 in the paint while going 5 of 18 from behind the arc. Illinois was 11 of 30 on 3s.
Up next
Both teams begin Big Ten Tournament play on Thursday.