No. 7 Purdue’s balance, hot shooting sink rival Indiana
Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 20 points and Fletcher Loyer and Omer Mayer each added 18 as No. 7 Purdue routed visiting Indiana 93-64 on Friday in West Lafayette, Ind.
Purdue (22-5, 12-4 Big Ten), which has won five of its last six, never trailed while sending Indiana (17-10, 8-8) to its second straight loss.
The Boilermakers led by as many as 34, shooting 64.7% from the field compared to 52.2% for the Hoosiers and held a plus-15 edge on the glass.
Loyer and Mayer both drilled four 3-pointers while combining for just one miss from long range.
Lamar Wilkerson led Indiana with 20 points while Tayton Conerway (12), Tucker DeVries (11) and Reed Bailey (10) followed in double figures. Conerway dished seven assists. Sam Alexis led the Hoosiers with three rebounds.
Purdue scored 14 of the first 20 points to start the second half and kept Indiana reeling down the stretch. Mayer contributed eight points during a late 9-0 Boilermakers run, including a pair of treys. His pullup jumper with 5:11 remaining to cap the surge gave Purdue its largest advantage of the night at 87-53.
Mayer scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half. Braden Smith had 15 points and eight assists.
Oscar Cluff grabbed eight rebounds for the Boilermakers. Kaufman-Renn added six boards and five assists.
Sparked by 62.5% shooting, Purdue surged to a 46-29 halftime lead. Kaufman-Renn (14 points), Smith (13), and Loyer (10) led a balanced attack while shooting a collective 12 of 17 in the first 20 minutes.
Purdue began to pull away at the break behind effective free-throw shooting, going 12 of 15 from the foul line. Officials whistled Hoosiers starters Nick Dorn and Alexis for three fouls apiece in the first half, while a trio of teammates were called for two fouls each.
Indiana struggled to find a rhythm on the other end as a result. While the Hoosiers shot 50% before intermission, foul trouble and seven first-half turnovers took a toll. Indiana needed 9:22 to score its first 10 points.
Purdue stopped a two-game losing streak in the in-state rivalry while earning a split of the season series. The host Hoosiers edged the Boilermakers by five on Jan. 27.