Purdue 87
Oakland 75
First and foremost: Mackey Arena is absolutely amazing and the environment and vibes overall are next to none. There are some clips on my X that I will link below, but this game was one of the more electric ones I’ve attended, and it was a buy game in November. You can find more here:
This game was significantly closer than what the scoreline appears to show. Oakland was in this one until around 5 minutes to go before Purdue pulled away.
Purdue moves to 2-0 while Oakland falls to 0-2.
Mackey Arena was electric, and a packed house was in attendance for this one!
Date: 11/7/2025
The Game:
Purdue looked very good in spurts, but Oakland consistently found ways to make things uncomfortable — more than expected coming in. As anticipated, Braden Smith stole the show, pacing a balanced Boilermaker attack that saw all five starters finish in double figures.
It was an exceptionally clean game by modern standards, featuring just 14 total turnovers and 26 fouls combined. Purdue’s offense started slow but erupted in the second half, where they shot 55% from the field, 55% from three, and 80% at the line, while holding Oakland to 50%/25%/78% splits.
The Boilermakers hit eight triples — all crucial — as Oakland controlled both the paint and the glass for much of the night. Oscar Cluff appeared far more comfortable in his second outing, flirting with a double-double at 14 points and 9 rebounds, with 12 and 5 of those coming in the second half. Once Trey Kaufman-Renn (TKR) returns, this team should be significantly more physical and capable of holding its own inside.
My Full Game thread:
NKY’s Takeaways
Braden Smith showcased exactly why he’s the front-runner for the Wooden Award, taking over when Purdue needed him most.
Purdue clearly misses Trey Kaufman-Renn, and his return will be critical before the schedule toughens.
Oakland looks like a strong Horizon League contender again and should be right in the mix for another NCAA Tournament berth.
Purdue dropped slightly in the metrics following this game — now 6th on KenPom and 8th on Bart Torvik.
Oakland, meanwhile, jumped to No. 172 on KenPom and No. 173 on Torvik, reflecting a strong showing despite the loss.
Key Player Statlines:
Braden Smith led Purdue with 20/7/9 tonight. As will frequently be the case, he was the best player on the court.
Fletcher Loyer added 15, CJ Cox and Oscar Cluff added 15 each, and Benter and Murphy had 11 a piece to round out an extremely balanced night
For Oakland, Ziare Wells led the scoring with a 21/12/1 performance, practically keeping the Grizzlies in the game.
Naivalurua, the Horizon League Preseason Player of the year added 11/7/4, however, he didn’t necessarily impress me as much as I expected tonight.
Mashhour (15), Robinson (11), Garrett (10), were the other 3 in double figures for the Grizzlies.
I wanted to take a moment to fully shout out the performance of Liam Murphy. Without his spark off the bench, this team would have struggled. He was able to hit several clutch threes with the game in the balance midway through the 2nd half.
The Tale of The Tape:
Purdue shot 32-68 (47%)/13-35 (37%)/10-15 (67%) tonight.
Oakland shot 30-68 (44%)/8-26 (31%)/9-12 (75%) tonight.
As highlighted above, Purdue had 2 Turnovers for the entire game while Oakland had 9.
Oakland out rebounded Purdue 39-37.
Oakland controlled the paint, winning the points in the paint battle 40-32. Oakland also won the 2nd chance point battle 14-10.
Purdue had 22 assists to Oakland’s 14 .
Postgame Quotes
- Coach Painter: Thought Purdue was slower to the bal than Oakland was, especially in the first half. Called out the guards especially in the first half. Thought Oscar was the only guy who was really showing any effort tonight. “If we played this game again, the score would not be the same” – speaking to how good the looks were that they were able to get in the first. He said that we have to find the same pride that guys like Fletcher Loyer have for shooting on the defensive side of the ball. In hindsight the injury to TKR will be helpful in the long run with other guys getting some experience.
- Loyer/Smith did tie the record for Purdue with 112 consecutive starts, tying Bruce Parkinson who previously held the record.
- Fletcher Loyer: moving the buy-in on defense and enjoys showing some passion especially on defense. He felt the game opened up once getting the ball into the paint to help the game flow. Acknowledged that this team still has to get better while also realizing this game will likely help the team continue to grow overall.
- “We just beat Oakland by 10 points, if we’re supposed to be the #1 team, we have to be better than that” – Fletcher Loyer.
- Oscar Cluff: A very average performance from the rebounding view. A lot of this will be aided by TKR coming back. He’s still learning how physical he needs to be at this level.
What’s Next
Purdue will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama on 11/13 at 7:00. That game will be on ESPN2.
Oakland will head to Houston to face off with the Cougars on 11/12 at 8:00. That game will be on ESPN+.
TKR injury update: Trey was non-contact today, and he went through the shoot around today, he had some pain after shoot around so did not go tonight. Had X-rays and now an MRI today, but doesn’t believe it’s anything significant at this time.
CJ Cox did have to go get stitches after the game ended.
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