Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith team up to lead No. 1 Purdue to 82-51 rout of Evansville in opener

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Fletcher Loyer opened his final college season by scoring a career high 30 points and preseason All-American Braden Smith added 11 assists as Purdue protected its first preseason No. 1 ranking with a rousing 82-51 season-opening rout over Evansville on Tuesday night.

Loyer was 8 of 11 from the field and made seven 3-pointers. Smith scored just six points but passed former Illinois star Bruce Douglas for third on the Big Ten's career assists list. Smith increased his total to 769, four more than Douglas. Former Michigan State guard Matten Cleaves is second at 816.

Purdue has won 33 consecutive non-conference home games — this one despite playing without preseason all-conference forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, who missed the game with an injured hip.

Joshua Hughes had 15 points and AJ Casey added 14 for Evansville, which faced the Boilermakers for the first time in 20 years. Defending Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year Connor Turnbull also sat out for an undisclosed reason.

Without Turnbull, Purdue made this one look easy even though it played raggedly at times — missing shots at the rim, struggling to grab rebounds and just getting into a normal flow.

But the Boilermakers managed to take control with an early 11-0 run and then closed the first half by scoring the final five points to make it 41-22. They started the second half on a 12-0 spurt that made it 53-22 as Hall of Fame coach Gene Keady and former Purdue guard Lance Stephenson watched from the stands.

The Boilermakers were 13 of 29 on 3s.

Evansville: Heads home to take on Calumet College of St. Joseph on Friday.

Purdue: Hosts Oakland on Friday.

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