[14] Purdue 90, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 73 (Postgame Notes)
No. 14-ranked Purdue opened its season with a 90-73 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in front of the 74th straight sellout in Mackey Arena.
Purdue improved to 19-1 in season openers under Matt Painter, having won 12 straight openers by an average of 29.6 points per game.
The win was Purdue’s 27th straight home win against non-conference teams, now tied for the longest streak in Mackey Arena history.
Purdue has won 22 straight games in the month of November, the second-longest streak in America behind Arizona.
The win was Purdue’s 36th straight regular-season win against a non-conference opponent, dating to a 58-54 loss at Miami, Florida, on Dec. 8, 2020. The 36 straight wins is now tied for the sixth-longest streak in NCAA history.
The victory was Purdue’s 18th straight home win overall, the sixth-longest streak nationally. The 18 straight home wins is tied for the fifth-longest streak in Mackey Arena history.
Purdue is 52-1 in its last 53 games against unranked foes in Mackey Arena.
Purdue is now 14-0 all-time against the current members of the Southland Conference.
Purdue is now 93-3 since the 2017-18 season when scoring at least 80 points.
Purdue is 69-6 since the 2017-18 season when making at least 10, 3-pointers.
Purdue has won 26 straight games when shooting at least 48.0 percent from the field.
Braden Smith’s 15 assists were the most for a Purdue player in a season opener in school history. He narrowly missed a triple-double with 12 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds.
It marked Smith’s third career game of at least 15 assists. Only three players in the last 20 years have had more 15-assist games than Smith (Scott Machado, Kendall Marshall, Yuri Collins).
Smith moved into a tie for sixth on the school’s career assists chart with 460.
Fletcher Loyer tallied 21 points and made his 125th career 3-pointer in the victory.
Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 15 points with a career-high nine rebounds and three assists.
In his first career game, Daniel Jacobsen had 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 25 minutes.
Myles Colvin tallied a career-high 14 points with four rebounds.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Fletcher Loyer scored 21 points to lead five players in double figures as No. 14 Purdue beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 90-73 on Monday night.
Also scoring in double figures were Trey Kaufman-Renn with 15 points, Myles Colvin with 14, Daniel Jacobsen with 13 and Braden Smith with 12. Kaufman-Renn had nine rebounds and Smith had 15 assists.
Owen Dease scored 20 for the Islanders. Garry Clark added 14 points.
The Boilermakers led 49-33 at halftime, but the Islanders got as close as three points in the second half before Purdue pulled away. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi shot 54% in the second half to get back into the game.
The Boilermakers shot 56% for the game compared to 45% for the Islanders.
Purdue hung its 2024 NCAA Final Four banner with the national finalist prior to the game. The Boilermakers made the Final Four in 1980 and 1969, finishing runner-up in ’69.
Takeaways
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: The Islanders played well in the first 14 minutes of the second half to battle back from a 16-point halftime deficit to narrow the deficit to three points.
Purdue: The Boilermakers weren’t able to put away the Islanders until the final six minutes. The Boilermakers were hurt by 16 turnovers, seven more than Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Smith committed six of those turnovers.
Key Moment
After Clark’s 3-pointer narrowed Purdue’s lead to 70-67 with 6:43 remaining, Loyer fed Jacobsen for an alley-oop that woke up the crowd. Purdue held a 20-6 edge the rest of the game.
Key stat
Colvin came off the bench to score all 14 of his points in the first half.