The #14 Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Northern Kentucky Norse by a final score of 72-50. Purdue’s leading scorers were Fletcher Loyer with 16 points and 4 assists, Trey Kaufman-Renn with 14 points and 5 rebounds, and Braden Smith with 11 points and 7 assists.

1st Half

Purdue started the game on fire, jumping to an early 21-9 lead. Fletcher Loyer had 8 early points, while Smith, Harris, and Renn all contributed greatly. Everything was looking great until star freshman Daniel Jacobsen had to leave the game with a leg injury. Due to the injury, Northern Kentucky was able to take advantage of the size difference and go on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 21-14. During the run, the Boilermakers were turning over the ball like crazy, Braden Smith was yet to take control of the game, and no one looked like they wanted to win. After a few good possessions, Purdue took a 37-24 lead into the half.

2nd Half

The second half was very similar to the first half, the Boilermakers couldn’t hold onto rebounds, and they were turning the ball over at a concerning rate. Smith played poorly in the second half, only scoring 3 points and not looking like himself. Some of Purdue’s struggles might have been caused by Jacobsen’s injury, but the way the Boilermakers played in the second half was not acceptable. One of the few bright spots was senior Caleb Furst scoring 8 points in a five-minute span, he was controlling the paint better than any other big man on the Boilermakers. Fletcher Loyer continued to play well, shooting 4/5 from behind the arch, and 6/9 from the field. The Boilermakers will need to clean this offense up big time before they host #2 Alabama at home. If this game had been against Alabama, we would have lost by 40. I hate to be so negative, this is still a young team that can put it together, but this game showed us what can happen if one of our top players gets hurt.

Player of The Game: Fletcher Loyer

Loyer has been known for his inconsistency in the last few years, but after putting together two solid games in a row, I think he has broken that curse. One thing that is certain with this team is that Loyer will shoot his shots, and in this game, he shot them very well. Purdue is going to need this same output every game until they figure something else. Loyer is a veteran of this very young team and will need to be a leader. Loyer is the perfect guy to be a leader of this team, and I fully trust that he will have a great year.

#14 Purdue plays Yale on Monday, November 11th at 8:00 PM EST @ Mackey Arena

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