Behind the Numbers: Purdue 81 Rutgers 65

Purdue used a strong middle twenty minutes of their game against a feisty but overwhelmed Rutgers squad to grab an important road B1G win. With the trio of TKR, Smith, and Loyer leading the way, Purdue shot 38.5% (10/26) from behind the arc although they went just 3/12 in the second half. Purdue continued their path as the number one team in the country by playing a controlled game at a place and against a team that has been a sort of rubix cube to solve over the last several seasons when highly ranked.

Let’s get into some insight in the game by going ‘Behind the Numbers!’

71

With his 8 assists against Rutgers, Braden Smith now has 71 assists on the season. That pushes his career total to 829 and into sole possession of 41st all time. For the season, Smith is now averaging 8.9 per game and is second in the country behind only Jeremy Fears, Jr.’s 9.9 per game at Michigan State. The B1G may have the best collection of passing point guards in the country when you include UCLA’s Donovan Dent (6.7), Northwestern’s Jayden Reid (6.1), and USC’s Rodney Rice (6.0) all ranking in the top 50 in the country for assists.

41.8%

With their 10/26 shooting, Purdue is currently shooting 41.8% from behind the arc. That is good for seventh in the country and would be the second best in program history behind only the 2017-2018 Boilers who shot 42%. This team has the shooters necessary to raise that even more as the season progresses and guys like Harris, Mayer, Cox, and Murphy adjust to their roles. As a note, Princeton set the single season record in 1988 for a team that took more than 250 attempts at 49.2%.

129.5

It is no surprise that Purdue has one of the best offenses in the country this season but what we are seeing borders on one that could be an all time one. With PJ Thompson continuing to evolve as an offensively minded coach and Braden Smith seemingly having the ball on a string most nights, Purdue’s early season adjusted offensive efficiency is 129.5. To put that in perspective, the next closest team this season is Louisville at 125.9. Only 2025 Duke would rank higher with 2015 Wisconsin being the only other team to be 129.0 or higher (129.0).

25.8

Heading into this game, Rutgers has been averaging 25.8 free throws per game, good for 52nd in the country. They had also done a good job converting those into points by hitting 18.1 per game. Purdue’s efficient defense that looks to simply keep ball handlers in front of them and forcing teams into mid-range jumpers limited Rutgers to just 7-11 from the free throw line. That’s on par for the Boilers this season that are now allowing 12.75 attempts from the free throw line per game which ranks them top ten in the country in that regard.

28.13

Heading into the season there was a lot of talk about Purdue’s trio of Smith, TKR, and Loyer and rightfully so. Those three are what makes Purdue go this season but one of the big questions was what the bench could do in a supporting role. So far, so good.

Mayer, Harris, DJ, and Murphy are combining to score 28.13 points per game this season on 85/170 from the floor for 50%. That type of quality bench support is what will win Purdue lots of games this season and be a main reason for a potential run to Indy in March.

30.7

This one may not seem like that big of a deal but trust that it will make a major difference once February hits. This is a long season and one that could very well find Purdue playing nearly forty games this season so when your National Player of the Year averages just 30.7 minutes per game, you take it. As a comparison, Smith averaged 37.0 minutes per game for the entire season so being able to get him valuable rest in both the first and second half will help later in the season. To compare that with the first eight games last season, Smith averaged 35 minutes per game. The depth of this team may be the foundational piece they can rely on as the season grinds on.

77%

One very noticeable improvement from last year has been the Boilers at the free throw line. Loyer and Smith have always been very good in that aspect but TKR has struggled there for most of his career. That isn’t the case this year as Purdue is shooting 77% as a team from the free throw line. That would be, as far as we can tell, the highest percentage in program history for an entire team with the 1997-1998 squad coming in at 76%. Hitting free throws is one of those simple things that wins ball games alongside rebound and limiting turnovers.

15.5

There were some things that were noticeable that Purdue clearly missed in those two early games that TKR missed. The biggest appears to have been their rebounding as Purdue has dominated that area of each game since his return. For the sixth straight game Purdue outrebounded their opponent and the fifth time in those six games that margin was 11 or more. In fact, in those six games Purdue has outrebounded their opponents 239-146 for an average of 15.5 per game.

4-1

Since 2002, Purdue has welcomed five ranked non-conference opponents inside Mackey Arena. In those games, Purdue is an impressive 4-1 with victories over #2 Alabama (2024), #6 WVU (2009), #22 Davidson (2008), #25 UVA (2006) and the lone loss coming to #4 Duke (2008). Purdue’s next game welcomes one of the hottest teams in the country in the #10 ranked Iowa State Cyclones.