Without Edey, Kaufman-Renn Shines for Purdue Basketball in 74-53 Win Over New Orleans
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Even without 7-foot-4 junior center Zach Edey, Purdue basketball cruised to a 74-53 victory against New Orleans on Wednesday night in its first-ever game at Mackey Arena as the No. 1 team in the country.
Making the most of his opportunity, redshirt freshman forward Trey Kaufman-Renn stepped up and led all scorers with a career-high 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting. He also registered two assists, pulled in a pair of offensive rebounds and made eight of his 10 shots from the foul line.
Kaufman-Renn paved the way for a 36-16 advantage in bench points for the Boilermakers, and he scored 17 in the second half as sophomore forward Caleb Furst struggled with foul trouble.
"Especially when Zach's gone, you kind of get more low-post touches," Kaufman-Renn said of his scoring output. "There is kind of a rhythm that you get in the game, the feel of the game. We work on it every day, so I just did the same thing I do any other day."
In his second game back from injury, junior forward Mason Gillis was thrust back into the starting lineup as a result of Edey’s absence, but he was aggressive from the jump and scored a team-high nine points in the first half on 3-of-6 shooting.
He was responsible for seven of Purdue’s first 12 points, including a 3-pointer that capped an 8-0 run in the first six minutes.
"I feel great," said Gillis, who scored in double figures for just the second time all season by finishing with 11 points. "There's definitely ups and downs. If anybody has back problems, you understand it's not fun to deal with especially when there are complications with it."
The Boilermakers had to find their footing early, as the Privateers used an onslaught of perimeter shooting to keep the game close in the opening minutes. They hit five of their first eight attempts from beyond the arc, led by junior guard Jordan Johnson, who finished the game with 17 points and made three 3-pointers.
Johnson kickstarted an 8-0 run that gave New Orleans a 13-12 lead with 12:59 left to play before halftime. However, Purdue dominated the final nine minutes of the first half, and New Orleans had just two points in the paint in the period.
Despite finishing the game with no points, junior guard Ethan Morton's defensive efforts snuffed out a strong start by the Privateers after taking on the role of defending Johnson.
"Be that guy that can guard somebody," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "When you have that impact on the game, you're going to stay with them. Well now, when someone gets going like that and you're the guy who can shut people down, you gotta have the value to not take you out. That's hard, but that's reality. I thought Ethan did a good job."
Facing a two-point deficit, the Boilermakers mounted a 24-2 run as the Privateers failed to score in nearly nine minutes of play. A layup by junior forward Tyson Jackson put points on the board for New Orleans to briefly stop the barrage.
Freshman guard Braden Smith registered eight points in the final six minutes, helping Purdue take a 41-21 lead into the locker room. All six of the team’s scorers in the first half had at least four points, including Kuafman-Renn with seven.
When the Boilermakers returned to the court, their offense was forced to flow through Kaufman-Renn as both Furst and Gillis picked up two fouls in the second half.
"We've just kind of learned that it's next man up," Gillis said. "You gotta be able to do your job, understand what the team needs from you to win. And then moving forward, anybody is susceptible to foul trouble, so if that happens, then you just keep moving on."
Kaufman-Renn played 14 minutes in the final period, going 5-of-6 from the field and hitting 7-of-9 attempts from the foul line. Junior guard Brandon Newman was the only other player for Purdue to score more than two points after halftime.
By the end of the game, the team finished with a 24-18 rebound margin and scored 38 points in the paint compared to just 18 by New Orleans. With the victory, the Boilermakers improved to 12-0 for just the fourth time in program history.
"It feels good to just play basketball again," said Kaufman-Renn, who didn't play at all last season. "Obviously, when you're on a really good team, that helps too because you're winning a lot of games."
Purdue returns to Mackey Arena on Thursday, Dec. 29, for its final nonconference matchup before entering the bulk of the Big Ten schedule. The team takes on Florida A&M at 4 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
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- Purdue, New Orleans Live Blog: No. 1 Purdue basketball was back at Mackey Arena on Wednesday night for a matchup with New Orleans. Relive some of the action from our live blog, straight from press row. CLICK HERE
- Purdue Remains No. 1 in Latest AP Top 25 Poll: After a victory over Davidson in the 2022 Indy Classic on Saturday, Purdue basketball remained No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Boilermakers are 11-0 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play so far this season. CLICK HERE
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