Efforts From Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn Not Enough, Purdue Falls to Illinois
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Any other night, the play from Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith might have been enough to fuel No. 18 Purdue to a win, but the Boilermakers didn't have quite enough to take down Illinois on the road Friday night.
The Fighting Illini knocked off the Boilermakers 88-80 in the regular season finale for both teams. Illinois had a 13-1 run to close the game, overcoming a five-point deficit with under three minutes to play.
All five of Illinois' starters reached double figures, led by Will Riley with 22 points on seven-of-14 shooting. Tre White had a monster game, scoring 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Kylan Boswell added 15 points and five assists, Tomislav Ivisic scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds and Kasparas Jakucionis finished with 10 points and seven assists.
Purdue led Illinois 63-53 at the 11:34 mark of the second half and appeared to be on its way to a third straight win to close out the regular season. But the Illini went on a 10-0 run to close the gap.
The two teams traded punches, but Illinois delivered the biggest — that 13-1 run to close the game.
Braden Smith came up one rebound shy of a triple-double, ending the night with 18 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. Trey Kaufman-Renn led all scorers with 29 points on 13-of-23 shooting. He also collected seven rebounds. Fletcher Loyer added 14 points and Gicarri Harris scored eight off the bench.
With Friday's loss to Illinois, Purdue closes out the regular season having lost five of its final seven regular season games. The Boilermakers will head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament next week.
Related stories on Purdue basketball
COLVIN'S ALLEY-OOP: After throwing down a vicious alley-oop from Braden Smith against Illinois, Purdue's Myles Colvin was hit with a technical foul. CLICK HERE
KAUFMAN-RENN HITS 1,000 POINTS: On Friday night, Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn became the third player this season to score 1,000 career points. He hit the milestone against Illinois. CLICK HERE
KAUFMAN-RENN SNUBBED: Despite averaging 19.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and shooting above 61% from the floor, Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn was not among the finalists for the Karl Malone or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar awards. CLICK HERE
COLVIN EXPLAINS SUBBING HIMSELF IN: Matt Painter told reporters on Tuesday that Myles Colvin checked himself into the home finale against Rutgers. Colvin explained how that happened on Thursday. CLICK HERE
Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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