No. 5 Purdue eclipses 100 points, blows out Kent State

Jack Benter came off the bench to score 20 points and help lead No. 5 Purdue to a 101-60 home win over Kent State on Monday.

Benter went 6 of 6 from 3-point range and made all seven of his field goals.

Fletcher Loyer scored 19 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Braden Smith added 12 points and eight assists for Purdue (12-1), which won its fourth straight game.

Purdue shot 56.3% from the field overall (36 of 64), 38.7% from 3-point range (12 of 31) and went 17 of 19 from the free-throw line.

Morgan Safford and Jahari Williamson each scored 10 points for Kent State (10-3), which was playing its first opponent from a Power Four conference this season.

Kent State entered averaging over 94 points per game, but shot just 34.4% (21 of 61) from the field and 7 of 27 (25.9%) from 3-point range.

Holding a 51-27 lead at halftime, Purdue built a 30-point lead at 62-32 with 16:32 remaining after a 3-pointer by Loyer.

The Boilermakers continued to grow their lead, going on a 9-0 run to grab a 79-40 lead with 10:15 left a pair of free throws by Gicarri Harris.

Purdue went up 94-46 with 6:03 left, then eclipsed the 100-point mark with 1:24 remaining after a pair of free throws by Daniel Jacobsen.

Leading 15-12 with 13:25 remaining in the first half, Purdue started to gain some separation.

The Boilermakers went on an 8-0 run to take a 23-12 lead with 11:22 left until halftime on a 3-pointer by Harris. They later went on a 13-0 spurt to grab a 37-16 advantage with 6:21 to go in the first half on a short jumper by Smith.

Purdue built a 49-23 cushion with 2:14 left until halftime on a dunk by Kaufman-Renn.

The Boilermakers were sizzling from the field in the first half, shooting 59.4% overall (19 of 32) and going 13 of 16 on 2-point shots.

--Field Level Media