Fletcher Loyer back trots near mid-court, arms extended in fists near his waste, and he lets out a roar. Purdue had a game plan to take advantage of McNeese’s aggressiveness on defense and on the first play, Loyer found Trey Kaufman-Renn inside in the post, and all Kaufman-Renn had to do was turn with the ball and go up for the dunk. 2-0, Purdue, and it was all Boilers from there as Purdue throttled Will Wade’s Cowboys, 76-62.Between Kaufman-Renn dunk and lay ups early, four different Boilers made three-pointers. A Fletcher Loyer pass to Camden Heide for a corner three gave Purdue a 20-8 edge before the halfway mark of the first half. In McNeese’s first round matchup against Clemson, it gave up just 13 first half points total.But it was Purdue’s defense that shined in the first half, cutting off McNeese’s lanes to the hoop and winning the battle on the boards. Purdue would out rebound McNeese 22-12 in the first half.It also won the possession battel with turnovers, too. After a Braden Smith three-pointer gave Purdue a 25-11 lead, Myles Colvin got his hand on a pass and Smith found Camden Heide in transition for an open lay up to go up 16.Then a play that defined the half for Purdue pushed its largest lead of the game to 22.A McNeese dribble got loose, Myles Colvin deflected the ball, then Smith, then Colvin again as Braden Smith sold out his body and laid out horizontal and deflected the loose ball forward in front of his own bench to Colvin who went down the court and forces a foul on a free throw attempts.After the two free throws, Purdue was up 36-14. It would carry a 38-20 lead into half.
McNeese pressed, it trapped, it hounded, and ultimately, never even got close to Purdue in the second half.After Braden Smith drew Quadir Copeland’s fourth foul on a charge, McNeese also lost its control. Will Wade, working on the refs for most the game, finally got called for a technical near mid-court. A few seconds later, NcNeese’s Christan Shumate was called for his own technical. Purdue would shoot six straight free throws, make five of six, and McNeese’s comeback was dead before it started.The closest McNeese would get is 53-37 when Brandon Murray would finish around the rim and draw a foul, but miss the free throw. McNeese finished the game below .500 from the charity stripe.Purdue’s respond came immediately as Braden Smith found CJ Cox for his second three of the game, and a Kaufman-Renn and one would extend Purdue’s lead back to 59-39.
Six different Boilermakers made threes in the game, and Gicarri Harris’s with over five minutes to play all but sealed the game for Purdue as it moved the score to 62-41.
McNeese cut into the lead in the final two minutes but never threatened in this one.
Purdue will head back to Indiana to play in the Sweet 16 in Indianapolis where it will take on the winner of Houston and Gonzaga later tonight.
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Purdue continues to get production from its bench int he NCAA Tournament.
Gicarri Harris, Myles Colvin, and Camden Heide combined to score 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds
Everything McNeese does and wants to do didn’t work against Purdue on Saturday. Even though Purdue turned the ball over late, its half court offense remained a work of art. The man, literally, in the middle of it, Trey Kaufman-Renn. Kaufman-Renn was too big, too patient, and too smart from the start for Purdue.
Kaufman-Renn started the game by dunking the ball, and then went to picking apart a defense that knew it had to shift towards Kaufman-Renn to keep the big man from dominating inside. It didn’t work. Instead, Kaufman-Renn’s patient and ability to find shooters on the perimeter let to open threes for Purdue.
Purdue jumped on McNeese early from three and then Kaufman-Renn went to work inside in the second half.
Around the scoring, Kaufman-Renn had his best rebounding performance in his career against McNeese. Kaufman-Renn was vital in Purdue winning the rebound battle. Kaufman-Renn also drew a late flagrant foul on McNeese after securing another Purdue offensive rebound.
Kaufman-Renn finished the game with 22 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 assists.
