Purdue Without Sharp-Shooting Bench Player vs. Akron
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue will be a little short-handed for Sunday night's game against Akron. Senior forward Liam Murphy is out for the game after sustaining a shoulder injury in practice, according basketball play-by-play man Rob Blackman on WAZY.
Murphy is listed as "out" on the Big Ten availability report for Sunday's game. He played in Purdue's first two games of the 2025-26 campaign but did not appear in Thursday's 87-80 victory over No. 8 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Tipoff between Purdue and Akron is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game will air on Big Ten Network.
Murphy played a huge role in the Boilermakers' 87-77 victory over Oakland on Friday, Nov. 7. He came off the bench for 10 minutes, but scored 11 points and shot 3-of-6 from three-point range. The 6-foot-7 senior provided some big minutes off the bench for the Boilers, which included a buzzer-beating three-ball at the end of the first half.
In Purdue's opener against Evansville, Murphy logged 18 minutes in the 82-51 win. He scored three points in that contest. For the season, Murphy is averaging seven points and one rebound per game. He is shooting 50% from the floor.
No timetable was provided on a return for Murphy.
Murphy has always been a sharp-shooting wing throughout his career. He's had stops at Columbia and North Florida and has shot the long ball at a 38.8% clip. Last season at UNF, he connected on 42.3% of his attempts while averaging 13.0 points per game.
Second Boilermaker to miss time this season
Murphy is the second Boilermaker who has missed time this season due to injury. Senior forward and All-Big Ten talent Trey Kaufman-Renn missed the first two games because of a hip pointer and sore back.
Kaufman-Renn returned for Purdue's top-10 clash with Alabama on Thursday. In his debut for the 2025-26 season, he played like an All-Big Ten forward. He finished the game with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists. He became just the third player in the last 30 years to post that stat line in a top-10 matchup.
Following the game, Kaufman-Renn said he had no issues with his hip or back, a good sign after playing such a high-level opponent on the road.
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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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