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Purdue cruises into Sweet 16 with dominant win over McNeese State
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Purdue is safely through into the Sweet 16, becoming the first team to punch a ticket to the 2nd weekend of the 2025 NCAA Tournament!
On Saturday, the Boilermakers took on 12-seed McNeese State. The Cowboys rolled into the Round of 32 after an upset of 5-seed Clemson with head coach Will Wade delivering impressive results.
However, Purdue did not take things for granted with an emphatic statement. In fact, the last and only lead for McNeese State came when the score was 3-2 with the Boilermakers hitting the gas and never looking back.
Purdue delivered separate first-half runs of 10 points and 9 points in running the lead all the way to 22 points before settling for a 38-20 lead at the break. Another 7-0 lead after the break gave Purdue its largest lead of the game at 25 points before eventually coasting to the finish line with a 76-62 win.
Trey Kaufman-Renn led all scorers with 22 points, including an impressive 8-for-10 from the free-throw line. He added 15 rebounds to complete the assist in powering the Boilermakers into the Sweet 16.
Fletcher Loyer added 15 points and 5 assists in what was an otherwise quiet game for Braden Smith. The All-American point guard finished with 10 points and had 8 turnovers while shooting just 3-for-7 from the floor. CJ Cox (11 points) was the other Purdue player in double figures while posting a team-high plus/minus at +18 in the win.
The difference in this game came down to 2 areas: free-throw shooting and rebounding. At the charity stripe, the Boilermakers were an efficient 19-for-23 (83%) while McNeese managed to shoot just 5-for-13 (38%). That 14-point swing was the difference in the final score.
However, the Boilermakers also made sure to lock down the glass in this one. Purdue had 41 total rebounds and a +17 margin on the glass, surrendering just 7 offensive rebounds to McNeese and 9 2nd-chance points. That’s the kind of rebounding domination you want to see while putting teams away in March Madness.
With the win, Purdue is safely into another Sweet 16, giving the Boilermakers back-to-back trips and a 6th in the last 8 NCAA Tournaments. The Boilermakers will now await the winner of 1-seed Houston vs. 8-seed Gonzaga to see who they will face for a trip to the Elite Eight.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.