WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Fletcher Loyer scored 16 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn had 14 to lead No. 14 Purdue to a 72-50 rout of Northern Kentucky on Friday night.
Braden Smith added 11 points and seven assists for the Boilermakers (2-0). Caleb Furst scored eight off the bench.
No one reached double figures for the Norse (0-2). Trey Robinson, Sam Vinson and Keeyan Itejere each had eight points.
The Boilermakers used a 12-0 spurt to take an 18-4 lead in the opening half. However, a nearly six-minute scoring drought kept Purdue from pulling away early. The Boilermakers settled for a 37-24 halftime lead.
In the first minute of the game, Purdue freshman center Daniel Jacobsen, who scored 13 points in the season opener, fell and needed to be helped to the bench. He was able to walk to the locker room and returned to the bench with ice on his shin, but did not play again.
Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said Jacobsen sustained a lower leg injury and will have an MRI on Saturday.
Northern Kentucky: The Norse shot just 30% from the field. They did manage to tie Purdue with 33 rebounds each. Northern Kentucky had a 15-8 edge in offensive boards.
Purdue: The Boilermakers did a better job of finishing off an overmatched opponent than they did in a 90-73 victory against Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Purdue’s lead was narrowed to three points late in that game. Purdue was helped by shooting 50% from the field, but was just 9 of 14 at the free-throw line.
Freshman guard Gicarri Harris sank a pull-up jumper in the paint as the shot clock expired to fire up the crowd and give Purdue a 60-40 lead. That started an 8-0 run.
Loyer shot 4 of 5 from 3-point range as Purdue made 9 of 22 attempts from long range. Northern Kentucky went 5 for 23, with two of those makes coming late in the game.
Northern Kentucky: Will host Nicholls on Thursday.
Purdue: Will host Yale on Monday.
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