Purdue 100 Rutgers 71

Purdue shoots the lights out to destroy Rutgers

Purdue struggled early falling down 8 midway through the first half. Then they caught fire from long range the rest of the game.

Purdue began the 2nd half on an 8-0 run and continued on to a 29-point victory.

Rutgers cooled off in the 2nd half and leading scorers Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey nearly disappeared. The Mackey Arena energy seemed to cause Purdue to do no wrong while completely deflating Rutgers shooting.

Key Stats

Purdue shot a whopping 18 three-pointers.

Purdue won the points-off-turnovers battle 20 to 7.

Purdue’s fg % was 56% and 50% from 3-point range. Rutgers shot 44% from the field.

Key Individual Performances

Purdue’s Fletcher Loyer each converted seven 3-pointers.

Purdue’s Braden Smith had 23 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds. Fletcher Loyer also poured in 23 points.

Rutgers’ Dylan Harper scored 13 points and Ace Bailey 12 points, both well below their season averages.

What it means

Purdue climbs back to a possible 3-seed.

Purdue moves to 13-6 in conference and is on the fringe of earning a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament. They move to a half-game above Wisconsin and Maryland who also have 6 losses.

Purdue finished the regular season on Friday with a big matchup versus Illinois. This may decide whether they play their first game Thursday or Friday in the Big Ten Tournament. It will also have impact on Purdue’s NCAA tournament seeding.

Other notables

Senior Caleb Furst finishes his regular season careeer as Purdue’s all-time winningest player.