Purdue's 'Big 3' Accounted for Crazy Percentage of Matt Painter's Total Wins

When Purdue's trio of Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer walked off the court for the final time in San Jose last weekend, they did so as the winningest senior class in program history. That trio won 117 games together, more than any other group to go to Purdue.

This group helped coach Matt Painter reach 501 career wins at Purdue by getting three victories in the NCAA Tournament. Smith, Kaufman-Renn and Loyer accounted for a large percentage of those wins.

Believe it or not, Purdue's outgoing senior trio accounted for 23.4% of Painter's wins at Purdue. It's a ridiculously high percentage, considering he's been in West Lafayette since the 2005-06 season.

Purdue's senior group hit the 30-win total twice and won at least 24 games in each of their four seasons in West Lafayette. Here's their breakdown by year:

2022-23 — 29-6
2023-24 — 34-5
2024-25 — 24-12
2025-26 — 30-9
Total — 117-32

Before Smith, Kaufman-Renn and Loyer played in their first game at Purdue, Painter owned a record of 384-192, which equals a win percentage of .667. His win percentage has increased to .691 thanks to the outgoing class.

Purdue also won two Big Ten regular-season championships, two Big Ten Tournament titles and played in the National Championship. The Boilermakers appeared in the NCAA Tournament all four seasons, making three runs to the Sweet 16 and two trips to the Elite Eight.

Those are going to be some large shoes to fill moving forward.

Painter reflects on senior class as winners

Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter answers media questions. | Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Following Purdue's Elite Eight loss to Arizona in San Jose, Painter had nothing but high praise for the three players who spent their entire careers in West Lafayette. Smith, Kaufman-Renn and Loyer bought into the culture and made Purdue a better program.

"Really proud of these three guys sitting right here and everything they've done for our program. Really set a standard of how to go about their business," Painter said following Saturday's loss. "It's going to be hard to emulate that. In today's game, having three guys come and stick it out and fight through adversity and keep making our program better.

"They got the most wins in school history. They got the most tournament wins in school history. They got two Big Ten Championships. They got two Big Ten Tournament titles. You know, they showed up every day and worked. That's what you want."

Thanks to this outgoing group, the standard of Purdue basketball has been raised tremendously.

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