Rutgers lottery picks got scratched off by a Purdue defense that came ready to play, locking down the Scarlet Knights, 68-50.


Rutgers might have the NBA guys, but Purdue was clearly the better college team tonight as they forced 12 first half turnovers on the way to a 9 point first half lead.

Purdue's defense went to work early, forcing eight turnovers in the first eight minutes of action. Around Rutgers turning the ball over, Fletcher Loyer started the game off by driving and making a finger roll to give Purdue a lead it never relinquished.


Loyer's next basket, a wide open mid-range pull up gave Loyer 1,000 points for his career. The junior joins Braden Smith who reached the milestone on the road two games ago against Minnesota.


Braden Smith led all scorers with 11 points at the half, but it was his play making once against that kept Purdue's offense rolling.


Smith found Loyer in transition for a lay up and then almost immediately after found Heide in transition for an alley-oop dunk to give Purdue a 21-13 lead past the halfway point of the first half.


With Trey Kaufman-Renn in foul trouble, Caleb Furst got extended minutes and was excellent on both ends of the floor. He had a highlight one handed dunk over Ace Bailey in the first half, and blocked a Bailey shot at the rim later in the second half. He was perfect from the field, finishing another Purdue possession at the rim with a two-handed dunk off a Gicarri Harris feed.

While Purdue struggled from the three-point line all game, it got contributions from the bench in the second half that helped pull away from Rutgers. With Furst and Kaufman-Renn both picking up their third fouls early in the second half, Painter went to his freshman big man Raleigh Burgess.


C.J. Cox would find Burgess almost immediately on the roll and Burgess would finish with a lay up at the rim.


Later, with Rutgers pulled to within five points, freshman Gicarri Harris hit just his seventh three-pointer of the season.


Purdue's lead extended to 49-41 with the shot and then Smith went back to work. Smith hit a mid range jumper to extend the lead to ten and then Kaufman-Renn got going inside hitting a lay up after a spin move.


Despite playing just 20 minutes, Kaufman-Renn still finished with 16 points.


Braden Smith collected another double-double, scoring 16 points and collecting 14 assists while grabbing 3 boards.

A Smith floater pushed Purdue's lead to 57-43. A blocked three-pointer by Smith on Dylan Harper a few plays later would mark the end of any Rutgers push.