West Lafayette, IN — Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn controlled a pass on the low left block. The Boilermakers’ leading point scorer backed into Maryland center Derik Queen.
The freshman defended patiently with less than three minutes to play, guarding with a pair of fouls while his frontcourt teammate, senior Julian Reese (five points, 2-for-6 shooting, seven rebounds) had already fouled out just minutes earlier.
Kaufman-Renn took in the feed before kicking it to the left corner for sophomore forward Camden Heide. A straightaway Heide triple put Purdue up by eight amidst a 6-0 scoring run, causing a Terps timeout with the Mackey Arena crowd on its feet.
Maryland rallied late, but couldn’t close the second half gap after a Boilermakers three-point barrage. The Terps lost to No. 8 Purdue, 83-78, in its first true road game of the season.
“Our half court defense in the first half was really good,” coach Kevin Wilard said. “[But] our transition defense in the second half was… rattled, and we did some things that’s part of playing in our first road game.”
Maryland (8-2, 1-1 Big Ten) left the break with a five point lead, but numerous fouls on Reese added up early. Reese, who hadn’t fouled out in his last 25 games, picked up his third foul less than a minute into the second half.
After a long break on the bench, Reese’s day ended when he committed two fouls in a 56 second span, exiting the game with Maryland up just one.
Purdue (8-2, 1-1 Big Ten) weathered the first half storm, racing out to lead a 12-2 run near the start of the second half, on much improved efficiency.
The Boilermakers, who shot just 37 percent in the first half, made 61 percent of its shots in the second — exploding from beyond the arc. Purdue made just two triples in the opening half before junior guards Fletcher Lloyer (12 points, seven rebounds) and Braden Smith made six of the Boilermakers’ final seven three pointers.
The pair combined for 36 points and 11 rebounds. Smith notched a team-high 24 points and 10 assists.
“Braden Smith’s middle pick-and-roll killed us,” coach Kevin Willard said. “We tried to make some adjustments, but when you have a lot of new guys and… without [Reese] in there, we weren’t able to adjust, and that really hurt us.”
While the Purdue backcourt found perimeter success, Kaufman-Renn took control near the rim against Reese and Queen. The junior forward frequented a backdown hookshot and a plethora of layups along the baseline en route to a 21 point, eight rebound outing.
Queen provided offensive flashes in the second half for Maryland, making up for Reese’s absence. Queen scored 18 of his season-high 26 points in the final period, pacing the Terps late while converting on the first and second respective 3-pointers of his collegiate career — coming on back-to-back Maryland possessions.
Queen shot 11-for-18 — an efficient 61 percent clip — and hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds to earn his second consecutive double-double.
Guards Ja’Kobi Gillespie (18 points, four assists) and Rodney Rice (13 points) led the Terps’ backcourt, providing an array of timely scores throughout a back-and-forth first half that Maryland impressed in.
The duo paced the Terps with a first half-high 10 points on two three-pointers each. Gillespie, specifically, took over early for Maryland — scoring eight of the Terps’ first 12 points.
Maryland needed Gillespie and Rice’s early shooting as it struggled to attack from the low block. Against the Purdue frontcourt, Maryland lost the paint battle 18-12 at half and nearly went the game’s first 13 minutes without a single made bucket inside.
While Maryland’s backcourt provided the early shooting, Derik Queen and Julian Reese were present defensively. The frontcourt pair combined for just 11 first half points on a 36 percent clip, but 15 first period rebounds between Reese and Queen, along with two blocks each, put Maryland ahead early against Purdue.
Maryland now has a nine-day break before its next outing, hosting Saint Francis (4-6, 0-0 Northeast Conference) on Tuesday, December 17th. Nathan Schwartz and Tyler Lochte will have the call for WMUC Sports.
