Purdue basketball overpowers High Point in March Madness, advances to second round
PROVIDENCE – The secret to Purdue’s opening-round win over High Point wasn’t much of one.
It’s hard not to notice Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn when they’re on the floor and in Thursday’s NCAA Tournament first-round game, the Boilermaker duo did exactly what the best players are supposed to do.
Purdue looked like it was in control during the second half, but the Panthers responded midway through and turned a double-digit deficit into a one-possession game. That’s when Smith and Kaufman-Renn swooped in and showed who’s boss, leading a 7-0 run to get it back to double digits as the Boilermakers held on for a 75-63 win.
Purdue led by 10 at halftime and while High Point chipped away at the lead, it always seemed to have the appropriate response. The Panthers’ had the deficit down to 51-46 with 11:12 left, but a 3-pointer from the left corner by Camden Heidi, followed by a one-shot stop and a dunk by Myles Colvin had the Boilermakers back up 56-46.
That’s when things got interesting. High Point found the range from outside it had in the first half and a 3-pointer by Trae Benham made it 59-53 with 8:21 remaining. The Panthers defense came up with a stop and Pettiford was fouled. He made the first and missed the second, but managed to corral his own rebound and after a missed 3-pointer by Benham that Justin Bodo Bodo turned into a putback dunk to make it 59-56 with 7:47 left to play.
With momentum on the High Point side of the court, Kaufman-Renn took it back. With the shot-clock winding down, Kaufman-Renn served up some delicious moves in the post before burying a fadeaway jumper. The Boilermakers got a one-shot stop and Smith went to work with a driving layup. After another quick stop, Smith buried a long 3-pointer from the top of the key to put Purdue up 66-56 with 4:28 left and the Boilermakers didn’t let it get closer than eight the rest of the way.
Kaufman-Renn was a monster in the middle, finishing with 21pointsto go with eight rebounds. Smith scored 20 in the win and dished out six assists. Heide came up with a double-double, scoring 11 points to go with 11 rebounds.
High Point came out firing in the first half, hitting four 3-pointers in the first six minutes, taking a 14-13 lead after a Trae Benhamn 3-pointer with 12:19 left.
The Panthers continued to use the deep shot the focal point of its offensive attack. Trailing by three inside the 10-minute mark, Abdoulaye Thiam tied the game at 20 with his first 3-pointer of the afternoon. Purude responded with a Braden Smith layup and after the team swapped 1-of-2 showings from free-throw line, the Boilermakers led 23-21 with 7:49 left in the half.
The final six minutes of the half belonged to Purdue. Using its significant size advantage in the interior, the Boilermakers owned the glass and with High Point unable to find success from the outside, slowly built their lead. Trey Kaufmann-Renn jump-started the run with back-to-back buckets inside of 15 feet, and Camden Heide’s jumper in transition put Purdue up 35-25, it’s first double-digit lead of the game.
High Point got the first half deficit down to eight with a layup from guard Bobby Pettiford, but Purdue’s Will Berg sent his team into the locker room up 10 with a short jumper that fell as the buzzer sound.
The Panthers were led by D’Mau Williams, who scored 12 points. Benham finished with 11 as the team’s only other scorer in double figures.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Purdue vs. High Point in 2025 March Madness Kauffman-Renn, Smith come up big
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