Source: Andy Lyons / Getty
[West Lafayette, IN]- The Purdue Boilermakers are off to the Sweet Sixteen on Friday.
Over the weekend, Purdue knocked off sixteen seeded Grambling State and eighth seeded Utah State. In both of those games, Trey Kaufman-Renn showed what the future of the Boilermakers could be.
In the Utah State game Sunday, Kaufman-Renn used his interior presence to aid in the 106-67 win for Purdue. In that game, he put up eighteen points, going 8-13 from the field. Kaufman-Renn also attributed eight rebounds for Purdue.
In the game prior against Grambling State, he attributed eleven points by hitting 50% of his shots.
The voice of the Boilermakers Rob Blackmon joined the Wake Up Call with KB and Andy Monday morning to recap the two victories.
“Of all the things, if I had to pick one or two that highlighted the weekend, (it would be) the fact that Purdue’s role players played at such a high level,” Blackmon said, “Starting with Trey Kaufman-Renn. If I told you out of that first media timeout one of Purdue’s Bigs had eight points, with two and ones and would have been fouled three times by the opposition, you obviously would have said Zach Edey. It was not Zach Edey, it was Trey Kaufman-Renn.”
Those three fouls on Utah State helped get Purdue into the bonus early in the first half. Kaufman-Renn would finish the Utah State game going 2-4 from the Free Throw line.
Another future of Purdue player that saw significant minutes was Camden Heide. Heide played fifteen minutes for Purdue against Utah State, posting a ten point, 67% Field Goal percentage.
Purdue’s focus now turns to the Sweet Sixteen against Gonzaga on Friday night. Purdue has seen the Zags this season already, winning 73-63 in the Maui Invitational in November 2023. In the first meeting, Zach Edey put up 25 points and 14 rebounds in the win for the Boilermakers. Both teams struggled from the three-point line. Purdue shot 23.5% from that distance, while Gonzaga hit four of thirty-two of their threes.
Purdue’s recent history in the Sweet Sixteen has not been favorable for Boilermaker fans. Purdue’s last Sweet Sixteen game was in 2022 when (15) Saint Peter’s upset the Boilermakers during their Cinderella run. Purdue’s last Sweet Sixteen win was in 2019 when they took down (2) Tennessee in overtime 99-94. They would go on to lose in the Elite Eight to (1) Virginia 80-75 in another overtime game. No current Purdue player was on that roster.
Tip off on Friday is at 7:39 PM.
