No. 8 Purdue begins the pursuit of a third consecutive Big Ten Conference regular-season title when it hits the road to face Penn State on Thursday at University Park, Pa.

The Boilermakers (7-1) enter their Big Ten opener fresh off a productive Thanksgiving trip to sunny San Diego, with victories over North Carolina State and No. 23 Ole Miss in a four-team tournament near the Pacific Ocean.

The success in California helped to erase any lingering sting from a 76-58 road loss to then-No. 15 Marquette on Nov. 19.

In an 80-78 victory over Ole Miss on Friday, Purdue led by 17 points before halftime only to trail by as many as seven points with under nine minutes remaining.

The Boilermakers pulled ahead again with 3:03 remaining and won it on a Myles Colvin offensive rebound and putback with under a second left. Colvin scored 20 points, while Trey Kaufman-Renn collected 25 points and 13 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Kaufman-Renn not only was named tournament MVP, he earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors after he averaged 23.5 points with 10.5 rebounds in the two victories at San Diego. He is averaging 19.2 points and 7.1 rebounds on the season, while shooting 60.4 percent from the floor.

Purdue coach Matt Painter predicted that Kaufman-Renn would be a top scorer last year when the Boilermakers were preparing for the possibility that the 7-foot-4 Zach Edey would go to the NBA. Edey returned and Painter’s prediction came to the forefront one year later.

“I was like, ‘Hey, it’s what I think of you, it’s what I’ve seen, and you’re a guy who can really score the basketball,'” Painter said after Friday’s victory.

At 6-8, Kaufman-Renn isn’t supposed to mimic Edey’s game, but he is being asked to play inside more in an emerging small-ball lineup.

“I’m just working in different coverages and still trying to figure out what coach wants me to do,” Kaufman-Renn said, according to the Lafayette Journal & Courier. “But also, I’m just getting used to that position.”

Penn State (7-1) is off to its own strong start with its lone defeat on a neutral court against Clemson 75-67 last week at Daytona Beach, Fla. The Nittany Lions rebounded to earn an 87-64 home victory over Buffalo on Sunday and are off to their best start since the 2019-20 season.

Yanic Konan Niederhauser scored 27 points against the Bulls to match a career high and Freddie Dilione V added a career-best 16 points. Point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. had 10 assists.

Penn State put away Buffalo by shooting 70.4 percent from the floor in the second half while going 6 of 9 from 3-point range after halftime. The Nittany Lions shot 56.5 percent overall in the game.

“Giving up a good shot to get a great shot, I thought we did that,” Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said after his team had 23 assists on 35 made baskets. “I thought in the second half, the ball was really humming and guys did a good job of getting each other open shots.”

Penn State finished in the back half of the Big Ten standings last season, losing 95-78 to Purdue on Jan. 13 when the Boilermakers were ranked No. 1 at the time.

–Field Level Media