Trey Kaufman-Renn didn't spend a lot of time reliving his game winning shot against in-state rival Indiana on Friday night.

"Probably did it two or three times after the game," Kaufman-Renn told me when I asked how many times he's replayed the game winning shot in his head. "But then I saw my girlfriend, saw my family, hung out with them."

There's an earnestness to Trey Kaufman-Renn, a thoughtfulness that goes against his stature and what you think about most almost seven-footers. First of all, he's a philosophy major, a ping pong fanatic, and when you ask him a question that he hasn't thought of, he's not afraid to tell you that. It's usually accompanied with a pleasant, "huh" and there's a sense that the question will stick with him for a while.

Again, philosophy major.

Kaufman-Renn isn't someone that likes to rush to an answer, that's the vibe he gives off which is probably why he has his own topic to discuss after I've asked my questions ahead of Purdue's trip to Iowa.

"I also want to say, I've been meaning to say it..." Kaufman-Renn said. "After my post game media session, some of my teammates told me a couple of my comments could have been taken the wrong way."

Kaufman-Renn's comments after the game were about the difficulty of dealing with Indiana, and in particular, Oumar Ballo, who was 6 of 7 from the floor and had 8 rebounds to go with his 14 points against Purdue on Friday.

Kaufman-Renn's gotcha quote would make for funny locker room fodder, "And you've got someone twice my weight ducking in."

In a headline, you could perhaps make that into an insult, though, to be fair, for IU-Purdue, that's practically a love letter, and if you read the quote, that's a lot closer to the truth. The not exactly what he meant words were a compliment about the difficulties of handling someone like Ballo, who Purdue has had to face now twice for two different teams.

The full quote reads: "He's a really good player and it's very difficult defending him, especially when he's getting those duck ins. As a big, you're trying to help the guards on drives... and you've got someone twice my weight ducking in. So it's just difficult to do well."

Even with bad intentions, the quote did nothing more than make a few media members laugh around the media room, mostly for the absurd mathematics that takes you to get there. Kaufman-Renn is listed as 6-9, 230 lbs. on Purdue's website. Ballo comes to the court at 7-0, 260 lbs..

A correction seemed unnecesary, if you've spent a minute with Kaufman-Renn, you know there was no ill-intention meant, and maybe that's why Kaufman-Renn wanted to make sure he offered better words for his answer.

"I guess I just want to say - there was one in particular that I was more of talking about why it was difficult to guard some of the actions that Indiana runs," Kaufman-Renn said. "Obviously dudes are talented and their physicality - I should have used those words instead of weight."

43.4 points, 18.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists.

That's roughly the amount of production Purdue had to replace this season with its mass exodus of a NBA lottery pick and seniors taking advantage of their fifth year.

The numbers almost wane compared to the names that had to be replaced: Zach Edey, Lance Jones, Ethan Morton, and Mason Gillis.

The heartline of Purdue's last three years, a team that finished in the National Title game, and that senior class set the bar as high as its ever gone at Purdue.

Now, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Caleb Furst, Braden Smith, and Fletcher Loyer are the experienced leaders trying to fill the void of not only a 2X Player of the year, but the heart, energy, and mind of the locker room.

Despite all that Purdue lost, Purdue was just voted the #7 team in the country in the most recent AP poll. Purdue's won 9 of its last 10, and it is now just one game behind Michigan State in the Big Ten standings as it vies for its third straight Big Ten Title.

As much credit as Edey and the rest deserve, Smith, Loyer, Furst, and TKR have been around for both of the last two championships and played major roles. Now, it's there time to take the majority of the credit.

"I'd say it's an unspoken pride," TKR said when I asked if there was pride in Purdue not falling off after losing a player like Edey. "We haven't really specifically talked about it. Just, Braden and I and Fletch and Caleb, we've always won in our careers. And so, I think it's kind of an expectation that you're going to be a part of a winner, and Purdue's the same way."

"When you've always been a part of winning programs, that's all you know. In some regards, we're happy when we lose the National Player of the Year, that you can keep up similar amounts of success, but we also expected it. If that makes sense."

If you've watched this group closely, it makes perfect sense.

This isn't even the first year that Trey Kaufman-Renn has been a starter, but you could argue this is the first time Trey Kaufman-Renn has been able to play as Trey Kaufman-Renn in his Purdue career.

After redshirting his first season at Purdue, TKR played bench minutes his freshman year. Then, in his second season playing, Painter made the decision to add TKR to the starting lineup. Despite this, Kaufman-Renn came into his junior year almost an entire unknown because in all the places that Kaufman-Renn excels now, Edey was then.

Instead, his sophomore campaign was about how flexible, how patient TKR could be playing out of position next to a ball dominant and just pure dominant center.

Now the post is Kaufman-Renn's and according to Kenpom, he's been the 7th most effecient player in the country.

"For sure, there's definitely satisfaction," Kaufman-Renn told me about getting the opportunity finally and making the most of it. "This is what you work to as a player. This is the kind of player I've always wanted to be at Purdue. So when you finally get that opportunity and you can take advantage of it, it's nice to actually do that."

TKR has been doing just that and apparently, he's only getting better. In his last five games, TKR is averaging 18.5 point per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, 2.4 assists per game, and is shooting over 60% from the field.

A Purdue mantra is leave Purdue better than it was.

Last year an All-American left Purdue.

This season, there might be two All-Americans in his place.