Purdue’s Double-Double Party Crashes Akron, Hands Matt Painter His 500th Win

Alright, let’s talk about trap games, and this could have been one for Purdue. You know the ones. You’re riding high after a massive road win against a top-10 team, in this case, the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide, and you’ve got a tropical trip to the Bahamas looming. Sandwiched right in between is a feisty, undefeated Akron team that came into Mackey Arena averaging a cool 99 points per game. If this wasn’t screaming “TRAP GAME” louder than a car alarm at 3 a.m., I don’t know what is.

For a moment, it looked like the Zips had received the memo. They came out firing from deep like they were trying to win a stuffed animal at the county fair. In the first half, Akron was a blistering 7-of-17 from three-point land. That’s 41%, folks. It felt like every time Purdue tried to pull away, a Zip would pull up from another zip code and splash one home, keeping things uncomfortably close. You could almost hear the collective gulp from the Boilermaker faithful.

But here’s the thing about this Purdue team: they’ve got more weapons than a Swiss Army knife. You focus on stopping one guy, and four others will drop 15 on you. It’s a classic case of “pick your poison,” and Akron just didn’t have enough cups. For example, Fletcher Loyer was on fire, dropping 16 points in just 13 first-half minutes—the man was unconscious. And he wasn’t alone: eight different Boilers scored in the first half alone.

By halftime, despite Akron’s best Steph Curry impression, Purdue had built a 52-39 lead, capped by an impressive run that seemed to say, “Alright, fun’s over. Time to get serious.” And get serious, they did.

How Purdue Turned a Shootout Into a Beatdown

If the first half was a back-and-forth shootout, the second half was a one-sided mugging on the glass. Purdue didn’t just outrebound Akron; they treated the backboard like it owed them money. Here’s a stat that will make you do a double-take: Akron did not get its first rebound of the second half until there were 13 minutes and 56 seconds left on the clock. You read that right. Their second rebound came with 9:03 to go. By that point, Purdue had already snagged 15 boards.

That’s how you choke the life out of a team. You give them one shot and one shot only. No second chances. No easy put-backs. Every possession becomes a pressure cooker, and eventually, the lid blows off. The Boilermakers squeezed every ounce of hope out of the Zips, turning a potentially nervy game into a comfortable victory lap.

The Stat Sheet Stuffers and Milestone Moments

When the dust settled, the box score looked like a fantasy basketball manager’s dream. Three different players recorded a double-double. That’s not a party; that’s a festival. These standout stats demonstrate why the team controlled the game from start to finish.

• Trey Kaufman-Renn: The man was an absolute monster on the boards. He finished with 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. He played with a fire that showed he took Coach Painter’s challenge to be a force on the glass personally.
• Oscar Cluff: After some early-season jitters, the big Aussie looked like the force everyone hoped for. Cluff put up a dominant 14 points and 14 rebounds, bullying Akron’s smaller frontcourt all night long. Welcome to the party, Oscar.
• Braden Smith: Just another day at the office for the Boilermakers’ floor general. Smith orchestrated the offense to perfection, finishing with 16 points and 10 assists. His patented pump-fake had defenders biting so hard they probably need dental work.

This dominant, all-around performance secured a 97-79 win and, more importantly, gave head coach Matt Painter his 500th career victory. A monumental achievement for a coach who has built Purdue into a perennial powerhouse. Reaching 500 wins is no small feat, but doing it with a team that looks this deep and this dangerous just feels right.

So, the Boilermakers dodged the trap, stuffed the stat sheet, and sent their coach off to the Bahamas with a milestone win. Now, with a 4-0 record, they head to warmer weather with a rhythm and a swagger that should put the rest of the country on notice. This isn’t just a good team; this could be a special one.