The stars come out

Good morning! Hope you had a great weekend. Ours was stuffed with college hoops. Let’s get into it.

1. Purdue headlines a solid weekend for the Big Ten

Some things seemingly never change in college hoops. Iowa State drilling non-conference foes. John Calipari’s offense. Virginia playing slow.

And Purdue winning at home — no matter the opponent.

An 87-78 win Friday night over No. 2 Alabama marked the Boilermakers’ 25th straight win in November. They haven’t lost to a regular-season non-conference foe since Dec. 2020 and are 12-3 in their last 15 games vs. ranked opponents. Yep. There was plenty of winning before Zach Edey, and No. 13 Purdue is still winning, even without the two-time NPOY.

Bama (3-1) was favored by 2.5 points and boasts one of the nation’s most explosive offenses. But Purdue (4-0) was not only were more efficient — a sparkling 1.28 points per possession, compared to Bama’s 1.15 — it held its own on the boards and committed just three turnovers.

Put those three things together in front of a raucous home crowd, and it’s an ideal recipe for success, as coach Matt Painter said that night.

Purdue’s big three of Trey Kaufman-Renn (26 points, 8 boards, 4 assists), Braden Smith (17 points, 10 assists, 6 boards) and Fletcher Loyer (17 points, including three 3s) did the heavy lifting. Kaufman-Renn split time at the 4 and the 5, and thrived in both (and caught a break with Cliff Omoruyi in foul trouble), while Smith outplayed Alabama guard Mark Sears, who earned some preseason All-America nods ahead of Smith.

But supporting cast also were essential. CJ Cox hit three 3s faster than any Purdue player in 15 years, and finished with 11. Gicarri Harris and Myles Colvin didn’t score, but Painter praised both.

Next up? We’ll see how Purdue fares in a hostile road environment on Tuesday at Marquette. Smith will get a chance to shine against another elite guard (more on Kam Jones below) while a pair of elite offenses face off.

As for Bama, its road is even tougher. Over the next four weeks, it faces Illinois, Houston, Rutgers, Notre Dame, UNC and Creighton. Only one of those is at home, meaning Friday was probably the perfect scene-setter for Nate Oats’ squad.

Meanwhile, Purdue was hardly the only Big Ten team that thrived this weekend.

Wisconsin surprised No. 9 Arizona, 103-88. Yes, the Badgers hit triple digits behind 41 made free throws, 21 of which came from forward John Tonje. His 41-point night came on just 14 shots, something no D-I player’s done since 2011. (Tonje racked up all kinds of historic stats in the win.)

Early in the second half when it was 65-65, Wisconsin coach Greg Gard wondered if the Badgers (4-0) would have enough firepower to hang with the Wildcats (2-1), who’d overcome a double-digit deficit in the first half. No problem.

“We didn’t flinch,” Gard said. “We were up 18 or whatever in the first half, and we knew they were gonna make a run. John made a couple shots, we were able to get some stops, and get back in control of the game.”

Those two wins set the tone for the Big Ten’s weekend, which saw it go 8-2 on Friday, and 13-4 overall.

That includes Ace Bailey’s high-flying Rutgers debut, Michigan’s solid showing against TCU (the Wolverines are 2-1 after handing the Horned Frogs' their first loss), and Penn State’s shellacking of Virginia Tech. (The Lions are 4-0 and boast a higher KenPom rating than Maryland, Michigan State and Iowa. They’re gonna be a handful during league play.) Throw in a great shooting night (!) from Indiana, and Minnesota holding its own, and the league is off to its usual solid November start.

Losses over the last three days were to ranked teams, and a mid-major power with dozens of wins vs. power conference teams (and USC’s 71-66 loss to Cal. So close to a cohesive storyline.).

No. 23 Texas A&M outgunned No. 21 Ohio State, 78-64, while No. 15 Marquette won at Maryland, 78-74. Saint Mary’s edged Nebraska on Sunday, 77-74, in a game that showcased Brice Williams’ scoring (28 points) against a team that might just be worthy of the Top 25 again.

2. Kam Jones’ magnificent start (and a Big East rebound)

Before you send any angry emails, tweets or skeets (have you gotten on Bluesky yet? You can find me here), I know the Big East went 8-2 over the same time period. But that feels secondary to how Marquette’s Kam Jones is playing this season.

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