No. 14 Purdue looks for inspired performance vs. Yale

Purdue won its first two games by an average of 19.5 points but coach Matt Painter wasn’t all that impressed.The No. 14 Boilermakers (2-0) look to please their leader when they battle Yale (1-1) on Monday night in nonconference play at West Lafayette, Ind.A showdown with No. 2 Alabama looms on Friday for the program that lost to UConn in last season’s national championship game.Also, the contest against the Bulldogs definitely rates tougher than opening foes Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Northern Kentucky.Yale was one of the darlings of March Madness last season. The 13th-seeded Bulldogs of the Ivy League stunned fourth-seeded Auburn 78-76 in the first round before getting stomped by San Diego State in the second round.So Painter wants a larger effort in Game No. 3 of the season.”He kind of ripped us a little bit, but it’s simple stuff,” Boilermakers guard Fletcher Loyer said in the postgame press conference following Friday’s 72-50 home win over Northern Kentucky. “It’s just talking to each other. We talk off the floor so we can talk on the floor. And he always says, ‘If you’re doing it, you’re saying it.'”Just making sure we’re all being positive with each other, make or missed shots. Just keep talking to each other, and ultimately that leads to success.”Loyer certainly isn’t the cause of any dismay as he leads the Boilermakers with an 18.5 scoring average and has knocked down 7 of 10 3-pointers.Trey Kaufman-Renn is averaging 14.5 points and a team-best 7.0 rebounds while top-notch point guard Braden Smith is averaging 11.5 points and a team-high 11.0 assists per game.Starting center Daniel Jacobsen unlikely will be available after sustaining a knee injury one minute into the game against Northern Kentucky on Friday. Painter said Jacobson would undergo an MRI exam Saturday.Will Berg is the likely starter against Yale.

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