Everything Falls Purdue's Way, Boilers Boat Race Rutgers on Senior Day

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Eighteen made three-pointers. A Caleb Furst alley-oop. A 21-5 run to start the second half. The second 100-point performance of the season. Hell, the fans received free French fries after a pair of missed free throws from Jamichael Davis. To say everything was going right for Purdue in the season finale at Mackey Arena would be an understatement.

Purdue closed out the home portion of the 2024-25 season on a high note, clobbering Rutgers 100-71 in front of the 89th consecutive sellout crowd. But this one didn't start the way it ended. For the first 12 minutes, the Scarlet Knights looked like they might put up a fight.

The game was tied at 19-19 at the 10:32 mark of the first half when a unicorn appeared. No, there wasn't a magical horse that appeared on Keady Court, but Rutgers did convert an eight-point possession. It started with a 3-pointer from Tyson Acuff to give the Scarlet Knights a 22-19 advantage.

Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn was then hit with a flagrant foul that sent Lathan Sommerville to the free throw line. After knocking down a pair of free throws, Dylan Harper then buried a three-pointer to give Rutgers a 27-19 lead with 10:13 to play.

It looked like the Boilers might be in some trouble.

But a Braden Smith triple, a four-point play from Gicarri Harris and two more buckets from distance from Smith put Purdue back ahead 32-29. The Boilers never trailed again.

Once Purdue started seeing some of those shots fall, they didn't stop.

"The fans help a lot. Once you start making a couple, obviously you're confidence is up. Then, everyone else kind of gets that boost from the fans," Smith said. "If I'm hitting shots, the fans are getting loud so Fletch is getting pumped up from that and he's hitting shots. It's just huge having that home-court advantage.

"Obviously, today, we shot the crap out of the ball. That helps in every game."

Purdue led 50-41 at the end of the first half and outscored Rutgers 21-5 in the first 5:30 minutes of the second half to build a 25-point lead. From that point forward, the Boilermakers were able to put it on cruise control.

Smith and Fletcher Loyer both scored 23 points in the win, combining to shoot 14-of-25 from three-point range. As a team, Purdue knocked down 18-of-36 attempts from behind the arc.

Kaufman-Renn ended the night with 16 points and Gicarri Harris added 11. Furst, the lone player celebrating Senior Night on Tuesday, grabbed nine rebounds and threw down on ferocious alley-oop pass from Smith in the first half.

For the game, Purdue shot 56.1% from the floor, but most of those misses came when Smith, Loyer and Kaufman-Renn had already taken a seat for the night.

"It's great momentum. When we get stops and get out in transition, Braden's finding me, I'm finding him, we're finding the big guys down low and we're getting offensive rebounds, too," Loyer said of Purdue's shooting performance. "It's tough to guard. When you've got things clicking, you have to keep pushing, and I thought we did a good job of that."

Rutgers had good production from stars Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper in the first half. The two freshmen combined for 18 of Rutgers' 41 points in the first half. But in the second half? The Boilers held the tandem to just seven points.

Bailey led the way with 13 and Harper scored 12.

Tuesday night's game at Mackey Arena felt like a fitting conclusion to the home schedule. For as much as Purdue has struggled at times throughout the season, fans got to see the best version of the Boilermakers.

They got to cheer the Boilers on to victory one last time in West Lafayette.

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