Kaufman-Renn takes over in second half as No. 13 Purdue beats NC State 71-61

SAN DIEGO (AP) Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 15 of his 22 points points in the second half and Camden Heide added 15 for No.

13 Purdue, which beat N.C.

State 71-61 on Thursday in the opening game of the Rady Childrens Invitational.

It was a rematch of last seasons Final Four game, which Purdue won 63-50 before losing to UConn in the championship game.

Braden Smith had 11 points and and Fletcher Loyer 10 for Purdue (6-1).

Jayden Taylor scored 15 and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield 13 for N.C.

State (5-1).

Purdues biggest lead was 71-56 after Heider made a corner 3-pointer with 1:48 left.

N.C.

State: The Wolfpack stayed close through the first half, trailing 33-32 at the break, but couldnt slow down Kaufman-Renns inside game in the second half.

Purdue: Purdue is trying for its fourth straight Thanksgiving week tournament title.

This is the third straight year the Boilermakers have headed west for the holiday weekend.

Last year it won the Maui Invitational and two years ago it won the Phil Knight Legacy in Portland.

The Boilermakers beat Gonzaga in both tournaments.

Kaufman-Renn scored Purdues first six points of the second half as the Boilermakers expanded their 33-32 halftime lead to 39-34.

The 6-foot-9 big man made a layup, hit two free throws and added another layup, all in the first 2:05.

The Boilermakers outrebounded the Wolfpack 38-28, with Kaufman-Renn grabbing eight.

Purdue advances to Sundays championship game against the winner of the second game between No.

23 Mississippi and BYU.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season.

Sign up here .

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball ..

This article has been shared from the original article on record_eagle, here is the link to the original article.