By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
Going against two-time Big Ten champion Purdue, favored again to win the league this season, was a tough enough challenge for NKU’s road-warrior Norse Friday night in West Lafayette, Ind. in front of 14,876 at Mackey Arena against the 14th-ranked Boilermakers.
But trying to do it while shooting just 29.8 percent from the field (17 of 57) was what made this an impossible task for an NKU team that fell to 0-2 after a 72-50 loss to Purdue to cap pair of tough big-time road opponents in Week 1 of the 2024-25 season. NKU opened the season Monday at Florida State with a 74-62 loss in Tallahassee.
Each team had 33 rebounds, 13 turnovers and eight steals. What NKU did not have was anybody who could put the ball in the basket. Not a single Norse reached double figures and from long range it was even worse as NKU hit on just five of 23 (21.7 percent) from three-point distance.
The good news here is that NKU senior Sam Vinson, out of Ft. Thomas and Highlands High School, appears to be on his way back from knee surgery that caused him to miss more than half of last season. The 6-foot-5 Vinson scored a team-high-tying eight points (as did Trey Robinson and Keeyan Itejere) while grabbing six rebounds (also tied for team high) with two assists and three steals.
One positive sign for the Norse was the debut of 7-foot freshman Paulis Rapolis from Lithuania who scored four points and grabbed rebounds backing up Itejere, who fouled out after 19 minutes
.
Purdue was led by its three returning starters from last year’s Big Ten champions. Fletcher Loyer led the way with 16 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn added 14 while preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Braden Smith fired in 11.
But the big edge for the Boilers over NKU came from the field where they hit 52.9 percent (27 of 51) from the field including nine of 22 (40.9 percent) from three-point range.
NKU returns to action with its first home game Thursday at Truist Arena against Nicholls (formerly Nicholls State) from Louisiana.
SCORING SUMMARY
NKU 24 26–50
PURDUE 37 35–72
NKU (0-2): Vinson 3-7 1-2 1-2 8, Robinson 1-4 0-1 6-6 8, Itejere 4-7 0-0 0-0 8, Dilling 3-13 1-7 0-0 7, Gherezgher 1-9 1-4 2-2 5, Wells 1-5 1-4 2-2 5, Rapolis 2-2 0-0 0-0 4, Pivorius 1-5 1-3 0-0 3, Pettus 1-4 0-2 0-2 3, Tchilombo 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, TOTALS: 17-57 5-23 11-14 50.
PURDUE: Loyer 6-9 4-5 0-1 16, Kaufman-Renn 4-5 0-0 6-8 14, Smith 4-9 3-7 0-0 11, Harris 2-4 1-3 0-0 5, Jacobsen 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Furst 4-6 0-0 0-0 8, Berg 3-4 0-0 1-1 7, Colvin 2-6 1-5 0-0 5, Burgess 2-5 0-0 0-2 4, Heide 0-0 0-0 2-2 2, Cole 0-3 0-2 0-0 0, TOTALS: 27-51 9-22 9-14 72.