After grinding out an impressive road win, No. 15 Marquette returns home to face another daunting challenge against No. 6 Purdue in a nonconference matchup of undefeated teams on Tuesday night in Milwaukee.
Purdue (4-0), which upset then-No. 2 Alabama 87-78 at home on Friday, will be on the road for the first time in the regular season. Marquette (4-0) held off previously unbeaten Maryland 78-74 on the Terrapins’ home court on Friday behind Kam Jones’ 28 points.
“The thing that’ll happen, our next game’s on the road and it’s going to be difficult,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said following the win over Alabama. “It’s just different on the road.
“To be able to play somebody like Marquette on their home court, now you see where you are. Whether you win by 20, lose by 20, it’s a close game, you’re going to learn some things about your team and you’re going to get better from it.”
Purdue, 4-0 for the fourth consecutive season, has won 39 straight regular-season nonconference games, tied for the fourth longest streak in NCAA history.
Despite the graduation of All-American center Zach Edey and 7-foot-4 starting freshman center Daniel Jacobsen’s season-ending broken leg in the second game of the season, the Boilermakers found success inside against the Crimson Tide. Trey Kaufman-Renn posted a career-high 26 points and collected eight rebounds while Purdue committed just three turnovers.
Kaufman-Renn averages a team-best 18.0 points per game, with Fletcher Loyer at 17.0 and Braden Smith 15.5. Kaufman-Renn and Smith each average 6.3 rebounds, while Smith is the Boilermakers’ top assist man (9.5).
Purdue has learned from a 93-87 preseason loss at No. 14 Creighton in an exhibition charity game, Painter said.
“When we lost to Creighton, I just said, like, in three weeks we play Alabama,” he said. “We’ve got to be able to improve in those three weeks to give ourselves a chance. It doesn’t guarantee you’re going to win, but you’ve got to give yourself a chance.”
Against Maryland, Marquette led by eight with just over a minute left, but the Terps closed within two before missing a pair of crucial free throws in the closing seconds.
“Our guys did a good job down the stretch of being surgical on offense, getting what we wanted and then getting some critical stops,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said afterward. “This is a program-building win for us.”
With Marquette trailing 59-56, Jones scored the team’s next 12 points to put the visitors ahead for good. Jones was 12-of-18 shooting from the field, including 3-of-5 attempts beyond the 3-point line.
Stevie Mitchell added 18 points and freshman Royce Parham came off the bench for a career-high 10.
Marquette averages 83.0 points per game while allowing 65.3 but has been outrebounded by 1.5 per contest.
Jones leads in scoring at 24.0 per game, followed by David Joplin and Chase Ross at 13.3 apiece. Joplin averages a team-high 7.0 boards with Ross grabbing 6.0.
Purdue has won three of the last four meetings, including a 78-75 victory last season in the Maui Invitational final.
–Field Level Media
