Defense in Iowa? NEVER!
In a sleepy, half-full Carver-Hawkeye Arena, it took Purdue a little while to wake up. They struggled for the last eight minutes of the first half before Braden Smith decided to put the team on his back.
A couple of late buckets by Smith in the first half erased the deficit and a buzzer-beater three tied it up going into halftime. Any momentum the Hawkeyes had disappeared and Purdue got a chance to refocus in the locker room.
Smith and Renn came out on fire in the second half, pushing the lead to 10 pretty quickly. Smith at one point, scored 17 of Purdue’s last 24 points.
It was close late, but Purdue would eventually pull away to win 90 to 81 in the empty arena.
56
The total number of points from Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn. This number easily could have been higher, but TKR battled foul trouble again, sitting the last eight minutes of the first half with two fouls.
Braden would end his night with 31 points, and Renn would add 25. When Renn was out, Iowa would double-team Braden high with a big, but when both were on the court they could not implement that strategy as it would lead to an easy Renn bucket.
Does Purdue have 2 All-Americans?
41
The amount of Points, Rebounds, and Assists that Smith had on the night. If you are a betting man, Fanduel set the total at 32.5 for PRA. He surpassed that early in the second half when he went scorched earth from deep. He lead the team with five made three-pointers on the evening.
10 & 9
Caleb Furst’s stat line last night. The senior leader was active on the glass, corralling 9 boards against the height-deficient Hawkeyes. Furst provided great minutes the last eight minutes of the first half when TKR went out with his second foul.
8
The curious case of Myles Colvin continues. He only played 8 minutes, when he was in he was solid on defense, but he missed a couple of open threes. His shooting slump continues, and it seems as if Harris has surpassed him in the rotation. We will need his shooting for a tourney run.