The #14 Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders by a final score of 90-73. Purdue’s leading scorers were Fletcher Loyer with 21 points and 2 rebounds, Trey Kaufman-Renn with 15 points and 9 rebounds, and Myles Colvin with 14 points and 4 rebounds.

1st Half

Purdue started the 1st half on fire, they were hitting threes left and right, and the offense looked great. But the Islanders were forcing turnovers and scoring in the paint with ease. Braden Smith was in control of the offense and looked like a seasonal vet. Matt Painter probably wasn’t very thrilled with all of the turnovers that the young Boilermakers were committing, but there were still a lot of positives. Myles Colvin was unconscious from behind the arch in the first half, going 4-4 with 14 points, a career-high in points. After a decent first half, the Boilermakers held a 49-33 lead going into the break.

2nd Half

After a great 3-point shooting first-half, the Boilermakers came out shooting cold as ice. Purdue started the second half shooting 0-11 from the 3, and the Islanders took advantage of that, cutting the lead down to five with 10 minutes left. After a Purdue timeout, Braden Smith took charge of the game in every way. Smith’s 15 assists was the difference maker in this game, as well as his 12 points and 8 rebounds. Purdue still has a lot to work on, but this team has a lot of potential. Let’s hope Matt Painter teaches this team how to not turn the ball over in practice after their 16-turnover performance against the Islanders.

Player of The Game: Braden Smith

Braden Smith played great all game and was producing offense in every way possible. Smith’s 15 assists opened up the game in many different ways, while his 12 points were very important for the Boilermakers. Smith has also been very underrated as a rebounder in his career, averaging around 6 rebounds per game last season, and grabbing 8 rebounds in this game. If Smith keeps playing like this, he will easily win Big Ten POTY, and maybe even National Player of The Year. This was a great game by the leader of this team.

#14 Purdue plays Northern KY on Friday, November 8th at 7:00 PM EST @ Mackey Arena

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