Kaufman-Renn Seeks To Regain Elite Form

Fourth-ranked Purdue has played five conference games since the calendar turned to 2026, and it has emerged victorious in all of them. The peculiar thing about that streak is that Kaufman-Renn was not a consistent contributor, at least in relation to his usual production, in four of them.

Before January, TKR was averaging a double-double: 14.0 points and 10.2 rebounds each contest. Since then, his numbers have decreased. Here are the stat lines for Kaufman-Renn over the Boilermakers’ last five games:

• At Wisconsin, January 3: 11 points, 5 rebounds
• Vs. Washington, January 7: 14 points, 14 rebounds
• Vs. Penn State, January 10: 7 points, 9 rebounds
• Vs. Iowa, January 14: 12 points, 2 rebounds
• At USC, January 17: 5 points, 3 rebounds

Kaufman-Renn’s double-double against the Washington Huskies, which helped Purdue defeat the Huskies, 81-73, was the only one he has registered in January. During those five games, he averaged 9.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, far off the pace of his output over the first two months.

The murmurs surrounding Kaufman-Renn’s play have grown louder, but his head coach has not lost one bit of faith in his power forward.

Painter Not Overly Concerned About TKR

Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter has not wavered in his support of Kaufman-Renn, instead attributing his struggles to some bad luck. Following the USC victory in which he shot just 2-for-8 from the field, the Purdue boss voiced his vote of confidence for TKR.

“He had a couple of good looks. When we got in foul trouble, offensively we liked going with him at the five, we knew we’d get him opportunities there, he just didn’t knock them down,” he said in a video posted by GoldandBlack.com. “I thought they were good shots. He had one post-up, had a couple floaters … he’s taking good shots.”

Basketball success can be measured simply in terms of making or missing shots. If that is the case, Painter feels his star forward will be just fine once the ball bounces his way.

“TK will be fine,” Painter said. “He just has to keep his focus, keep going, and play confident.”

End Of My Trey Kaufman-Renn Rant: Purdue Needs Their Star To Shine

On paper, contests against Penn State, Iowa, and USC over the past week should have been smooth victories. They eventually prevailed in all of them, but the Boilermakers were far from consistent in doing so.

It is not a coincidence that Purdue has struggled to put those lesser teams away over the last week of games. It just so happens that Kaufman-Renn’s decreased numbers in those games are also reflected in the choppy manner of the team’s overall play.

If Painter is prophetic, TKR should be due for an uptick in his productivity very soon. Boilermakers fans can only hope that their mainstay in the post returns to his true All-Big 10 form before too long.