Le Journal

CJ Cox’s last second three hit the front of the rim, and bounced harmlessly away as Purdue falls for the first time in the Big Ten, 69-67 to the UCLA Bruins.Behind a 23 point Donovan Dent performance, the Bruins were able to knock off the #4 Purdue Boilermakers. It is just Purdue’s second loss of the season.Dent was the star, but it was Tyler Bilodeau that brought the dagger. With just under ten seconds remaining, Dent in a two man game, found Bilodeau for three. Bilodeau knocked down the three and gave UCLA its final lead of the game. For Purdue, too many misses and way too much Dent was the downfall.Purdue was just 3 of 14 from three. Fletcher Loyer struggled again, knocking down just 1 of 5 from three, including a couple key misses late. But it was Dent, who added 13 assists with his game-high 23 points, that dominated the entire second half. Purdue had no answer for the guard in the second half.The Bruins defense held the nation’s #1 offense to 46% shooting and 21% from three. Purdue thought it pulled away late, going up six after the last media timeout, but an 8-0 run by the Bruins to finish the game moves Purdue from the top of the Big Ten standings. Purdue’s west coast trip wraps up with a 1-1 record.Purdue was led by CJ Cox who had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, but didn’t get enough from its stars.Braden Smith, questionable coming into the game after a leg injury against USC three days prior, had just 12 points and 4 assists. He came in averaging over 18 points and 9 assists a game in the Big Ten. Trey Kaufman-Renn was the only other Purdue player in double-digits, scoring 10 points to go with 10 points to go with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Once again, a defense showed TKR constant doubles and tried to take the ball out of his hand. Purdue’s bench out performed UCLA for the entire game. Gicarri Harris had 7 points, Jack Benter made key plays in both halves, and Daniel Jacobsen had a couple big rebounds. UCLA’s bench didn’t score a single point, but the Bruins starters were better than Purdue’s stars when it matter. Purdue leaves the West Coast as a team struggling offensively after looking unstoppable for the first half of the season.

2025-2026 Season Overall Record: 12-6 Big 10 Record: 4-3 Previous 3 Games 1/17: L – 74 – 86 vs Ohio State @ Away 1/14: W – 71 – 60 vs Penn State @ Away 1/10: W – 67 – 55 vs Maryland @ Home UCLA Personnel Starters Position#PlayerClassHeightWeightMinPtsRebAstPoint Guard2Donovan DentSr.6’2″18533.412.42.46.5Shooting Guard55Skyy ClarkSr.6’3″2102513.52.82.3Small Forward4Jamar BrownSr.6’5″20019.963.60.5Power Forward34Tyler BilodeauSr.6’9″23530.118.55.41.1Center1Xavier BookerJr.6’11”24518.26.83.20.9 Bench Position#PlayerClassHeightWeightMinPtsRebAstCenter24Steven JamersonSr.6’10”23012.42.62.80.7Wing/Forward3Eric DaileyJr.6’8″23026.510.55.51.4Wing8Eric FreenyFr.6’4″21510.31.31.30.4Combo Guard0Trent PerrySo.6’4″180252.81.80.6 Note Skyy Clark pulled his hamstring against Iowa and has missed the last four games. He was “questionable” for their game against Ohio State on Saturday, but it sounded like his return was imminent. I can’t find a source that says he’s not playing today, so I stuck him back in the starting lineup. Key Analytics (Per KenPom.com – National Rank in ()) KenPom Ranking – 42 Offense Adjusted Efficiency: 120.5 (50) Adjusted Tempo: 65.4 (300) Average Possession Length: 17.5 (186) Effective Field Goal%: 53.9 (85) Offensive Rebound%: 32 (154) Three Point%: 36.8 (38) Two Point %: 53.1 (127) Defense Adjusted Efficiency: 102.9 (50) Adjusted Tempo: 65.4 (65) Average Possession Length: 18.5 (352) Effective Field Goal%: 49.1 (95) Offensive Rebound%: 32.9 (265) Three Point%: 29.8 (31) Two Point %: 52.5 (217) Purdue Advantages Adjusted Efficiency Purdue Offense: 129.5 (1) UCLA Defense: 102.9 (50) Notes Efficiency, thy name is Purdue basketball. The Boilermakers still maintain a stranglehold on the best offensive efficiency, but did take a slight step back after the USC game, mainly because they left their shooting shoes in West Lafayette. On top of the shooting woes, Braden was uncharacteristically loose with the ball last time out, dare I say looking less like a Point God and more like a point guard. I anticipate Purdue’s favorite son to return to his deified status in this one. Mick Cronin’s teams are tough and play solid defense. Last season, they ranked 14th in defensive efficiency. They’ve taken a step back in 2026 in terms of efficiency, but they’re still going to make the Boilermakers earn it tonight. Two Point FG% Purdue Offense: 58.9 (25) UCLA Defense: 52.5 (217) Notes This is a weird one because UCLA does not lack size on the interior. In fact, when they play Eric Dailey and Tyler Bilodeau at the 3 and the 4, they’ll have a size advantage over the Boilermaker front court. If the Boilermakers try to put the ball through the basket instead of seeing who could make the rim vibrate the hardest, the mid-range game should be available with UCLA’s post defenders tending to stay closer to the basket. Offensive Rebounding % Purdue Offense: 37 (31) UCLA Defense: 32.9 (265) Notes Again, I don’t get it. It seems like UCLA should be a solid rebounding team. They’ve got size, but Tyler Bilodeau reminds me a little of TKR last season. He’s going to score, but rebounding occasionally eludes him. USC dominated the Boilermakers on the boards last time out, 38 – 25. Hopefully that was jet lag-related or possibly caused by the Purdue players having to adjust to the…verse weather conditions (is that the opposite of adverse?). I’m willing to bet that was a one-off performance from Matt Painter’s crew because I’m going to bet Coach Paint has had a little something to say about rebounding over the last couple of days. UCLA Advantages Two Point % UCLA Offense: 53.1 (127) Purdue Defense: 51 (155) Notes USC shot 61% from two; luckily for the Boilermakers, they only shot 15% from three. The good news is that UCLA isn’t particularly good at scoring inside the arc, but Purdue is slightly…

En plus de ses multiples boutons personnalisables, cet accessoire renforce son excellente ergonomie grâce à de nombreux paramètres logiciels. Sans oublier un autre atout très pratique pour un outil de travail potentiellement mobile.

Purdue’s trip out west did not start out on a pretty foot. Purdue played poorly, saw its star point guard go down early, and though Braden Smith would return to the court and Purdue would record its 9th straight win when it hung on 69-64 against USC. Now Purdue hopes to have a healthy Smith after banging knees twice against the Trojans as the Boilers look to finish its two game California swing. The final leg will be against what looks like a not very good UCLA team that will want its first marquee win of the season. #4 Purdue 17-1 (7-0) at UCLA 12-6 (4-3) Purdue remains at the top of the Big Ten with Nebraska, but its schedule is just starting to show its teeth.UCLA has taken advantage of an easy early slate to get to four wins, but against good teams, its struggled. It doesn’t have a win against a top-50 Kenpom team and has nothing on its resume that suggests it’s going to be a tournament team. But Mick Cronin is a good basketball coach and there are players on UCLA. Can it make its first statement against a Purdue team that’s struggling to put a good forty minutes together? Familiar names lead charge for UCLA Tyler Bilodeau is back and averaging 18.5 points a game for UCLA. Skyy Clark is scoring 13.5 points a game. Trent Perry and Xavier Booker provide two more 40+% three point shooters for the Bruins, but neither UCLA’s offense or defense have caught a groove this season. Both are hovering around 50th best in the country according to Kenpom. UCLA has been bullied inside on both sides of teh floors. The guards are talented. The team is skilled. It can shoot. It makes UCLA a dangerous team for an upset, but it doesn’t have the big men play inside to take on some of the more physical teams in the Big Ten. It’ll have its hands full going up against the best big man combo in the Big Ten on the glass with Oscar Cluff and Trey Kaufman-Renn.UCLA also isn’t turning teams over the way it was last year to make up for its lack of size and play on the glass. Bruins are one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the country. Teams are rebounding nearly a third of its misses against the Bruins. Purdue is one of the best teams on the glass in the country. Purdue got out rebounded by USC on Saturday. That could be fatal for UCLA. Purdue has responded loudly from poor rebounding performances this season with some of its best efforts. UCLA also isnt great at getting to its strength. Despite being a jump shooting team, it doesn’t get a lot of three pointers up. It makes them when it does, but its offense has really been a slog this year. It lacks elite play making and ball handling. TKR slumping Trey Kaufman-Renn has been at Purdue for five seasons now. We’re way past doubting his ability to produce. Kaufman-Renn was an All-American last year after averaging 20.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists a game.Kaufman-Renn has yet to get to 20 points in a game this season. Part of that, a large part, is credit to Kaufman-Renn’s continued sacrifice for Purdue. Kaufman-Renn took the lion’s share of Purdue’s scoring out of necessity last season. This year, he’s raised his effort and rebounding to a level Painter has often commented that he’s never seen before. People don’t get that much better at rebounding all of a sudden, but that’s exactly what Kaufman-Renn has done. TKR is averaging 9.7 rebounds a game this season. He has the 19th best offensive rebound rate in the country despite playing with the second best offensive rebounder in the country. But with Smith going out for stretches against USC and Purdue’s offense struggling with CJ Cox and Fletcher Loyer both going 0-3 from three, Kaufman-Renn’s offensive slump was highlight as Purdue for one of the few times this season struggled to find points. Purdue has the nation’s best offense in the country and it’s not been close. Kaufman-Renn willingness to fill needs instead of the scoreboard has been one of the least talked about storylines of the season for Purdue. Kaufman-Renn has earned the…

If last Wednesday night’s loss to the lowly Sacramento Kings didn’t make you pull out your hair, scream, shake your head, and or contemplate how much you believe in this team for the rest of the season, than chances are, the loss to the Warriors, Suns, or the embarrassing loss at home to a 17-26 Mavericks team did. For nearly a month now, the Knicks, yes, the same Knicks that were labeled as favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, have looked closer to the worst team in the league than even a good one. That’s led to the front office being tasked with two major questions. One, do they think that there are personnel issues, or do they think that the team, as currently constructed, is good enough, and that they are just in the middle of a rough patch? And two, if they do think there are some personnel issues, then are there moves out there that are both realistic, and can help remedy whatever issues that they have diagnosed. Regardless of the front office’s view, the answer to the first question is a clear yes. Whether fans like it or not, the team is flawed. Few teams are perfect, but the Knicks’ talented roster has clear, exploitable weaknesses. They have only one point-of-attack defender in Deuce McBride, who, despite his development, is still undersized and can’t play full games. Besides Jalen Brunson, they lack real ball handlers, resulting in poor shot creation. The bench, though occasionally effective, remains inconsistent. The Knicks are considering trading Karl-Anthony Towns and have discussed potential deals with the Magic, Hornets, and Grizzlies, per @StevePopper (h/t @RealGM ) pic.twitter.com/1gApuXnoYL— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 20, 2026 The second question, unfortunately, is one that we cannot answer. Fans can speculate, but they are left to social media and media outlets. And even then, they seem not to be able to come to a full agreement for much of the season. Throughout this turbulent season, fans have heard about the possibility of the Knicks moving on from Karl-Anthony Towns, as well as players like Mitchell Robinson and the aforementioned McBride. Whether Towns is involved in a deal for a certain Greek superstar or not, it seems that his defense has struggled, paired with what has now become one of his worst offensive seasons in a very long time, making Towns a likely trade candidate. See a lot of attention on the trade stuff at the bottom of this column— which i still think is unlikely to happen. As noted, Knicks not openly shopping and anything outside of Giannis downgrades talent. Lots of other issues to fix without breaking up roster. https://t.co/86gb2y0D1x— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) January 20, 2026 Steve Popper of Newsday Sports said yesterday there were “whispers around the league” about New York possibly moving Towns. He added, “His name surfaced when Bucks & Knicks discussed the chance of a Giannis deal, but now league sources said that talks have involved other teams including Memphis, Orlando & Charlotte.” That certainly must’ve raised the eyebrows of some Knicks fans, especially as the fanbase has slowly, but very surely, started to turn against the big man. But Popper also reiterated earlier this morning that he doesn’t think a trade is likely, and that the team isn’t openly shopping anybody. That sentiment was backed up by Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, who spoke about how the Knicks are not looking to move any of their core guys and are planning to ride the season out with the group. He did make sure to include the fact that this doesn’t mean they aren’t speaking to teams. New York will still do their due diligence as they often have, and in a league that just saw superstar Luka Doncic traded away less than 12 months ago, you can never say never. But much to the dismay of most Knicks fans, it’s looking more and more likely that this team won’t be making any substantial changes this season.