Bill Raftery observed the damage with mere minutes clinging to the clock: "This is like a library."

The commentator was talking about Jersey Mike's arena after No. 20 Purdue (12-4, 4-1 Big Ten) turned a 5-point game into a 16-point exercise in futility for Rutgers (8-8, 1-4) Thursday night. Propelled by Trey Kaufman-Renn's newfound freedom from foul trouble and Braden Smith's brilliance, the Boilers chugged to another blowout Big Ten win.

Player stats below, with ratings to follow:

Smith went full maestro Thursday night. Rarely has he had the game on such a string, picking cutters out and sensing openness in crowded areas with his backside.

On defense, he probably made Rutgers freshman Dylan Harper, who was questionable with the flu, wish he had stayed in bed. Smith picked up two steals in the first eight minutes of the game, adding another steal and a block by the last whistle.

A rough shooting night limited his production, but the junior guard was plenty involved.

He buried a highly contested, almost awkward midrange attempt early in the first half, displaying the ever-more confident shotmaking that has propelled him to career-high scoring and efficiency this year.

A difficult game to grade: On one hand, a mix of misfortune and over-aggressiveness held him to only seven minutes played through much of the second half. On the other, he helped massively once he heated up.

He somehow equalled Braden Smith's scoring total (16 points) in just 20 minutes.

Cox was one of four Boilers to make a 3 on Purdue's poor shooting night, and continued to show his underrated rebounding ability with four boards.

His assist to Raleigh Burgess in the early second half was a thing of beauty. Head coach Matt Painter said Wednesday that Cox is ultimately on the floor to shoot offensively and not much else, but when Rutgers brought two defenders to him in full expectation of a jumper, he knew what to do.

Mr. Plus/Minus does it again.

Furst led the team in the stat at +26, finishing plays better than he has maybe his whole career – the senior had not one, but two strong dunks.

The big man tapped himself an impressive rebound in the late first half that he had to swim over at least two larger Scarlet Knights for. Then, as Purdue stifled Rutgers' momentum in the late second half, he stepped off his man for a two-handed block – he does the dirty work.

Failed to make much impact in his 11 minutes, and contributed to Purdue's off shooting night from deep (0-of-3).

Heide had scored only 3 points in the last four games before Thursday night, but great cuts set him up for his offensive involvement Thursday.

He made a momentum-shifting 3 immediately after Rutgers went into a zone in the game's crucial mid-second half. Painter trusted the freshman to play over C.J. Cox down the stretch, perhaps because of his size. Harris scrapped up four rebounds and a block in the contest.

He played six vital minutes as Purdue's big man supply ran thin in the early second half. The freshman posted a plus/minus of 2, adequately contributing to Purdue's maintained lead.

A lot is anchored to Game Score, a metric invented by John Hollinger which (quite imperfectly) estimates a player's box score contributions. It's just a starting point for the grades, and it's readily available. During the game, I focus most of my attention on watching defensive reps, box-outs, offensive movement/involvement, and non-assist passing. I'll add all the off-ball value to these grades that my eyes can catch.

Further, these are role dependent – my grades answer a question that goes something like, "How well did a player take advantage of the opportunities they were given?"

Late game heroics earn bonus points, and the opposite is true for important errors. Oh, and I hate missed free throws.