Smith, Kaufman-Renn lead No. 7 Purdue over Iowa, 90-81

Feb 5, 2025, 02:16 am

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- — Braden Smith had 31 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 25 as No. 7 Purdue beat Iowa 90-81 on Tuesday night.

The Boilermakers (18-5, 10-2 Big Ten) won their third consecutive game, pulling away from a 36-all halftime deadlock with a 17-5 run early in the second half.

The Hawkeyes (13-9, 4-7) got within 80-77 with 2:42 left in the game but the Boilermakers held them off.

Iowa, which lost leading scorer and rebounder Owen Freeman to a season-ending hand injury on Monday, kept pace with Purdue in first half. The Hawkeyes led 36-31 with 1:13 to play before the Boilermakers scored the last five points of the half, with Smith hitting a 3-pointer as time ran out.

Caleb Furst added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds for Purdue.

Josh Dix led the Hawkeyes with 27 points and Payton Sandfort had 23.

Takeaways

Purdue: The Boilermakers were the first team to reach 10 wins in conference play behind Smith and Kaufman-Renn, who got what they wanted all night against Iowa’s defense.

Iowa: The Hawkeyes missed Freeman inside, although they got quality minutes from junior Riley Mulvey, making the first start of his college career. Iowa was outrebounded 33-26 against the Boilermakers, who have won 10 of the last 12 in the series.

Key moment

The game was tied at 41 when Smith and Loyer hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a 30-second span, starting the key run for the Boilermakers. Purdue made 8 of its first 9 shots in the second half, including 5 of 5 on 3-pointers.

Key stat

Smith and Kaufman-Renn were a combined 21 of 33 from the field. Purdue shot 55% for the game.

Up next

Purdue: Hosts USC on Friday night.

Iowa: Hosts No. 21 Wisconsin on Saturday.

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