Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 22 points and No. 13 Purdue led most of the way to defeat North Carolina State 71-61 on Thursday afternoon in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego.
Camden Heide poured in 15 points, aided by three 3-pointers, and Braden Smith had 11 points and Fletcher Loyer added 10 points for the Boilermakers (6-1).
It was a rematch of Purdue’s victory last spring in the Final Four, though both rosters look different at several positions.
Jayden Taylor posted 15 points and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield provided 13 points and eight rebounds for NC State (5-1), which played its first game away from home.
Purdue meets the winner of Thursday’s second game between Brigham Young and No. 23 Ole Miss in Friday’s title game, while NC State faces the loser.
Kaufman-Renn, who was the only starter on either team not attempting a 3-point shot, went 8 of 14 from the field. He led Purdue with eight rebounds as the Boilermakers finished with a 38-28 edge on the boards. Of Purdue’s rebounds, 13 came at the offensive end.
Kaufman-Renn had his second-highest point total of the season behind his 26 in an upset of then-No. 2 Alabama.
Smith, who was scoreless in the previous game vs. Marshall, also supplied six assists and was 6-for-6 on free throws for Purdue, which shot only 42.6 percent from the field.
The Boilermakers led 33-32 at halftime, but it was slow going for a while in the second half.
But when NC State, which had been within 44-38, went a 51/2-minute stretch with only two points, Purdue extended the lead to 13 points on Gicarri Harris’ three-point play.
Trey Parker had five points during a late stretch for the Wolfpack, but Purdue hit enough free throws to prevent any drama in the final few minutes. The Boilermakers finished 20 of 26 on free throws.
NC State couldn’t get untracked from 3-point range, shooting 4 of 17 from beyond the arc.
–Field Level Media
