Purdue didn’t turn the ball over and made sure redshirt junior center Troy Kaufman-Renn was fed the ball.
Kaufman-Renn proved to be the anchor with 22 points and eight rebounds to lead Purdue to a 71-61 victory over NC State on Thursday in San Diego, Calif. The No. 13-ranked Boilermakers improved to 6-1.
The Wolfpack fell to 5-1 on the season and plays the loser of Ole Miss/BYU at 3:30 p.m. Friday on FOX. The Wolfpack struggled mightily from three-point land, going 4 of 17 in the loss.
The first half proved to be a battle of the centers. Kaufman-Renn battled the 1-2 punch of NC State senior centers Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Ben Middlebrooks. The big men battled while the guards were trying to get their outside shooting rhythm, and it resulted in a low-scoring first half, with Purdue leading 33-32.
The second half proved more of Kaufman-Renn mixed in with some timely scoring from his teammates. Middlebrooks and Huntley-Hatfield didn’t continue going in the second half, combining to go 2 of 5 from the field for seven points and six rebounds.
The difference is Kaufman-Renn had 15 of his 22 points in the second half. He got help from stretch four Camden Heide, who had 10 of his 15 points after halftime.
The development of Kaufman-Renn is the biggest change for the Boilermakers since playing against NC State in the Final Four last April. The plays that went to former 7-3 center Zach Edey are now going to Kaufman-Renn.
Purdue managed to punch NC State in the proverbial mouth, and went from a two-point lead to going on a 15-4 run to open up a 50-38 lead with 12:33 left in the game. NC State never got within eight points from there.
Huntley-Hatfield finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, and senior shooting guard Jayden Taylor had 15 points and four assists.
Where NC State didn’t get production was from the power forward spot and second wing position. Transfers Dontrez Styles and Marcus Hill combined to go 4 of 14 from the field and 1 of 7 on three-pointers en route to nine points.
NC State also couldn’t get easy points off turnovers. Purdue only had six turnovers in the game, and also out-rebounded NCSU 13-9 in the contest.
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