WEST LAFAYETTE — No. 5 Purdue men’s basketball took an uncomfortable route to a 81-73 victory over Washington on Wednesday at Mackey Arena.
The Boilermakers ran their winning streak to six despite a turnover-heavy night from its two biggest stars and allowing Washington to stick around longer than it should. Braden Smith scored 23 points with seven assists and Trey Kaufman-Renn posted 14 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. However, they combined for 12 turnovers.
Here’s what I liked and disliked, and what the win means.
What I liked in Purdue basketball’s win vs Washington
Purdue shot 67.9% from the field in the first half, which was good, because it also turned the ball over eight times. For comparison, it has had eight or fewer turnovers in four games, and 10 or fewer in three others.
When the Boilers did get the ball inside, though, they could score at will. It’s how they led 45-28 at the break and were never really threatened.
Daniel Jacobsen showed off a variety of moves, from lob dunks to twisting lay-ins. On three occasions, when the ball went inside to Kaufman-Renn, it went back out for 3-pointers by C.J. Cox or Omer Mayer.
Washington played without reserve forward Lathan Sommerville, a Rutgers transfer, and Wesley Yates, who scored 30 for USC at Mackey Arena last season. Purdue had a talent edge that bout of sloppiness could not spoil.
∙ Mayer’s sporadic minutes have not allowed him to get into much of a shooting groove. But he knocked down a 3 in the first half, then beat the halftime buzzer with a fallback baseline jumper.
∙ Should tell you something about Fletcher Loyer’s value beyond scoring that he went 1 for 6 from the floor in the first half still led in box plus-minus (plus-16). That’s not an outlier – he’s had a few games like that this season.
What I disliked in Purdue basketball’s win vs Washington
Bit of a hangover effect for Smith? He committed his fourth turnover of the first half with 4:21 to go and fouled the Husky who had taken the ball from him. It was his third, and he watched the remainder of the half.
Smith did not start the second half before entering at the under-16. He hit a 3 on his first trip up the floor and assisted on a Jacobsen dunk on the second.
∙ Purdue led by 22 with 11:15 to play. Then an and-one basket by Zoom Diallo, a 3-pointer by Quimari Peterson and a Hannes Steinbach layup cut the lead to 14 in short order. It was the second straight game with some second-half leakage after opening up a big lead. It dwindled as low as eight with 12.4 seconds left.
What Purdue basketball’s win vs Washington means
This was the first of a three-game home stand – Penn State and Iowa are up next – before the Los Angeles trip. Saturday afternoons can be tricky, and Michigan nearly stumbled against the Nittany Lions earlier this week.
In other words, while its difficult to complain about such convincing wins, Purdue will want to be sharper this weekend.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fluid offense not without fault as Purdue basketball holds off Washington’s charge
Reporting by Nathan Baird, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
