CBS Sports graphic On another evening, yet another ranked team faced defeat away from home. This occurred twice on Tuesday, again five more times on Wednesday — and against the defending national runners-up on Thursday. Final tally: Penn State 81, Purdue 70. The match was significantly more one-sided than the score indicates. Penn State held a double-digit lead […]
On another evening, yet another ranked team faced defeat away from home. This occurred twice on Tuesday, again five more times on Wednesday — and against the defending national runners-up on Thursday.
Final tally: Penn State 81, Purdue 70.
The match was significantly more one-sided than the score indicates. Penn State held a double-digit lead just 12 minutes into the game, was up by 16 points at halftime, and extended it to 27 with 11:04 left in the game. At that moment, the outcome was apparent — despite the Boilermakers finishing on a 34-18 run, they ultimately lost by 11 after committing 24 turnovers.
Trey Kaufman-Renn (7), Fletcher Loyer (5), and Braden Smith (3) accounted for 15 of those turnovers.
“When you have that many turnovers and your leading three players have 15, you’re going to look at it from your angle — and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t acknowledge [Penn State] because I think they played exceptionally well,” commented Purdue coach Matt Painter. “I believe [Penn State’s] Ace Baldwin effectively disrupted Braden and pushed him around among other things. … They executed brilliantly. They deserve all the accolades. I felt we struggled to cope with it, and as the head coach, I wasn’t able to prepare them adequately.”
Purdue has dropped to No. 12 in Friday morning’s revised CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Boilermakers will head back home this weekend to face Maryland, currently ranked No. 16 in the Top 25 And 1. This contest is slated to start on Sunday at noon ET at Mackey Arena, where Purdue has achieved 22 consecutive victories.
