Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as No. 1 Purdue defeated Akron 97-79 on Sunday night in West Lafayette, Ind., to give coach Matt Painter his 500th career win.
Kaufman-Renn was joined by Fletcher Loyer (16 points), Braden Smith (16), Oscar Cluff (14) and reserve Omer Mayer (14) in double figures. Kaufman-Renn had delivered 19 points and 15 boards on Thursday night in an 87-80 victory at No. 9 Alabama .
Cluff added 14 rebounds and Smith dished out 10 assists, marking the first time since 1977 that the Boilermakers achieved three double-doubles in the same game.
The Boilermakers (4-0) shot 52.2% from the field (35 of 67) and dominated the glass 45-26, allowing them to carve out a significant 46-18 advantage in points in the paint. They collected 24 points off of 19 offensive rebounds.
But Purdue went on a 12-4 run to end the half, with Cluff dunking off a Smith feed for a 52-39 lead at the break.
Tavari Johnson scored a game-high 20 points for the Zips (3-1), while Evan Mahaffey added 12 and Eric Mahaffey tallied 10. Akron shot decently from the 3-point line, going 13 of 33 (39.4%), but canned only 40.3% of its field goal tries (27 of 67) and took fewer free throws (17) than Purdue made (18).
Some might have felt that the Boilermakers could overlook the Zips after earning a top-10 road win, but that simply didn't happen. Purdue wasted little time putting the game out of reach in the second half, boosting a 13-point halftime advantage to 20 on Smith's layup with 14:25 remaining. The margin reached as high as 26 in the final 5 1/2 minutes.
Akron stayed in the game for most of the first half, using the 3-point line to overcome relative weaknesses in size and strength. The contest was tied at 17 at the 13:15 mark of the half after Amani Lyles tossed in a 3-pointer.
The Boilermakers opened up a pair of 11-point leads later in the half before the Zips drew within 40-35 with 3:35 left after Shammah Scott found Lyles for a layup.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Braden Smith-led Purdue basketball pulls away from Akron Zips
