The slate has been tough for Maryland men’s basketball recently, and it’s not going to get much easier this weekend. After blowout losses to now-No. 7 Michigan State and now-No. 9 Illinois, the Terps will
turn their attention to No. 12 Purdue.
The Boilermakers are looking to bounce back after undergoing an extremely rough patch in their season. Three of their four losses on the campaign so far have come in their last three games: UCLA, Illinois and Indiana. In Purdue’s most recent loss to the Hoosiers, the team found itself down 40-29 at the half. It will look to start strong at an Xfinity Center whose crowd size and energy has yet to be determined.
Saturday’s contest will begin at 1 p.m. and air on CBS.
Purdue Boilermakers (17-4, 7-3 Big Ten)
Matt Painter is generally regarded among the nation’s best and most accomplished head coaches. He’s led the Boilermakers to five Big Ten regular season titles, two Big Ten Championships, 16 NCAA Tournament berths and an NCAA title game appearance, which came in 2024.
In Painter’s 20 full seasons with Purdue, he has accumulated a stellar 471-215 record. Under his leadership, the Boilermakers have made the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, which is the fourth-longest streak nationally.
Players to watch
Braden Smith, senior guard, 6-foot, No. 3 — Smith is one of the best pure point guards in the country and has been for some time. He formed a sensational tandem with Zach Edey in his sophomore season, and the pair came just one win shy of a national title. That year, he earned first team All-Big Ten honors after averaging 12 points, 7.5 assists and 5.8 rebounds.
He’s only continued to improve since then. As a passer, he’s unparalleled, leading the Big Ten with nine assists per contest. But he’s no slouch as a scorer, either, leading Purdue with 15.1 points per game.
Trey Kaufman-Renn, senior forward, 6-foot-9, No. 4 — Kaufman-Renn broke out last season as a junior after Edey declared for the NBA Draft. The forward was able to establish himself as the Boilermakers’ premier paint presence, and he averaged 20.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game en route to first team All-Big Ten honors.
His production has dipped this season, as he’s posting just 13.1 points per game, but he’s still an effective scorer and rebounder — he leads the team with 8.3 boards per contest. He’ll be an even tougher cover for Maryland without Pharrel Payne.
Fletcher Loyer, senior guard, 6-foot-5, No. 2 — Loyer, like Kaufmann-Renn and Smith, has been with the program for the past four years, proving Painter’s ability to retain and develop talent. Loyer has been a consistently steady scoring presence for the Boilermakers, averaging at least 10 points per game in each of his four seasons. This year, he’s averaging 12.4 points per game, but has scored under 10 in each of his last four outings.
Strength
Three-point shooting. Experience is obviously a major strength for this program, but so is the team’s ability to shoot from beyond the arc. Purdue leads the Big Ten in 3-point percentage, shooting 38.2% from deep as a team. For what it’s worth, the Boilermakers also rank second in the conference in overall field goal percentage, at 51.1%.
Weakness
Defensive statistics. Two of the few things Purdue ranks in the bottom half of the conference in is steals and blocks — it racks up just 5.8 and three per game, respectively. With Maryland being a relatively turnover prone team and lacking size itself, it will be interesting to see if these weaknesses prove helpful in the Terps’ favor.
Three things to watch
1. Guarding the 3-point line. Purdue has shown to be a very capable team from deep range, and Maryland has a tendency to try and play keep-up if other teams start hitting treys consistently. It will be important for Maryland to keep the game manageable early by focusing heavily on perimeter defense.
2. Tracking ball movement. With Smith, the Boilermakers rank No. 1 in the Big Ten in assists per game. The Terps have had some issues in rotation and adjusting to rapid ball movement and fast breaks defensively. They will need to remain on their toes and extremely sharp if they want to combat Smith’s floor general abilities.
3. Home crowd. This season has easily been one of Maryland’s most disappointing. However, Xfinity Center has proven to be a raucous environment, and when Purdue visited College Park in early 2023, a court storming occurred after a stunning victory. It will take an extremely bold effort from the Terps to repeat that success, but anything is possible.
