On the day Purdue raised the banner recognizing its 26th Big Ten championship to the rafters, it collected its first conference victory in its quest to win a third straight league title.
Braden Smith poured in 24 points and notched 10 assists, Trey Kaufman-Renn added 21 points and eight rebounds and Cam Heide chipped in 15 points to help the No. 8 Boilermakers surge past Maryland in the second half for an 83-78 victory at Mackey Arena on Sunday.
The triumph came on the heels of Purdue (8-2, 1-1 Big Ten) being run off the floor at Penn State on Thursday, after which Boilers coach Matt Painter lamented his teamapps intensity level was not appremotely closeapp to the Nittany Lionsapp.
It was a different story Sunday.
appProud of our guys for hanging in there,app Painter said. appI think you saw a lot of good execution in the game on our end, but I think you saw more shot-making in the second half.app
After turning the ball over 24 times against Penn State, the Boilers had only eight giveaways against Maryland. The Terps (8-2, 1-1), who came in on a five-game winning streak, entered the day forcing 16.8 turnovers per game, 10th in the country.
Purdue trailed 36-31 at halftime, but Smith piled up 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting after the half, notching a 4-for-5 mark from beyond the arc the final 20 minutes.
The junior from Westfield had the first 20-point, 10-assist performance for a Boilermaker since Troy Lewis in February 1988.
appWeappre very fortunate to have Braden,app Painter said. appI thought he took over the game in the second half. He made shots, but he made some big plays, some big passes. Just looking for his, taking what they give him. app When you play off of instincts and you have his skill package, good things are going to happen.app
Smith scored or set up all 10 points during a game-turning 10-0 run in the second half that turned a five-point Purdue deficit into a 67-62 lead. He found Kaufman-Renn with nifty post feeds for three consecutive baskets, then split a pair of free throws and finally drilled a 3-pointer off a Maryland turnover.
When Maryland pulled back within three, Smith hit another pull-up 3, and shortly thereafter went high off the glass with his left hand to extend Purdueapps lead to 77-67 two minutes left.
Speaking of Smith in the Big Ten Network studio after the game, former Michigan coach John Beilein compared Smith to one of his own players, who won national player of the year honors.
appWhen you think about it, he took the game on his shoulders and showed them the way,app Beilein said.
Heide also swished a key 3 from the wing in the final minutes and matched his season-high point total after not scoring at all vs. Penn State.
Kaufman-Renn joined Smith with 15 points in the second half, going 7 for 10 from the field after halftime.
Homestead graduate Fletcher Loyer chipped in 12 points and added seven rebounds. He went 3 for 7 from 3-point distance.
Fort Wayne native Caleb Furst added five points on 2-for-3 shooting and a rebound in 12 minutes. The victory was the 100th of his four-year Boilers career.
Maryland freshman center Derik Queen had 26 points and 12 rebounds.
