No. 14 Purdue pulls away down the stretch, holds off Texas A&M Corpus Christi
The final 10 minutes of Monday’s first half fit right into the celebration mode of the night.
Purdue raised last season’s Final Four banner before tip-off and lifted the curtain on the 2024-25 campaign, and the mix of Myles Colvin’s 3-pointers, C.J. Cox’s hustle, and Braden Smith’s floor game kept the party going.
However, turnovers, missed free throws, and an undersized Texas A&M Corpus Christi team scoring at will in the paint put a bit of damper on the festivities.
In the end, the 14th-ranked Boilermakers had to work for their 90-73 season-opening victory over the Islanders, the program’s 36th consecutive regular-season non-conference win.
After scoring 32 points in the final 10:41 to end the first half and holding a 16-point lead, it was a struggle to put away the Islanders. The 3-pointers that went down in the first 20 minutes banged off the rim, and the first-half turnover problems carried over into the second half.
And the Islanders scored at will in the paint totaling 40 points in the lane to punch back against the Boilermakers, who didn’t feel comfortable with the victory until the final minutes.
The Islanders closed within 70-67 on Gerry Clark’s 3-pointers, but freshman Daniel Jacobsen answered with a dunk off an assist from Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn scored a layup, extending the lead to 74-67.
Kaufman-Renn’s physicality overwhelmed the Islanders throughout the second half, keeping the Boilermakers in the lead. He scored eight of his 15 points after halftime, going 4 of 4 from the field.
Loyer led Purdue with 21 points and seemingly answered the Islanders in the second half, either with a jumper or at the free-throw line. Smith finished with 11 points and 15 assists and Jacobsen added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Colvin scored 14 points on the strength of four 3-pointers and a fastbreak dunk as Purdue broke a 17-17 tie and opened up a 49-33 halftime lead.
The post No. 14 Purdue pulls away down the stretch, holds off Texas A&M Corpus Christi appeared first on On3.
This article was originally published by Mike Carmin at On3 – (https://www.on3.com/teams/purdue-boilermakers/news/purdue-basketball-texas-am-corpur-christi/).
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