Boilers Sprint Past Langara Select in Exhibition Game 102-63

For the first time since 2022, Purdue fans got their first look at the Boilers without Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, or Trey Kaufman-Renn on the roster. Those are some big shoes to fill for a program accustomed to needing to fill big shoes in the past but there are ample familiar faces that appear willing and able to do just that. In their first opportunity, Purdue blitzed the Langara Select 102-63 that saw old and new faces alike providing a sneak peek in to the 2026-2027 Boilermakers.

Head Coach Matt Painter went with familiarity for the starting five as we saw CJ Cox, Omar Mayer, Gicarri Harris, Jack Benter, and Daniel Jacobsen start the game. It was a bit surprising to see both Harris and Benter start this game with the highly regarded transfer forward Caden Pierce available, but Benter showed his value last season at the power forward position goes much deeper due to his high ability to do everything well.

These games are a lot more about finding things for players to improve on individually while also learning more about the team as a whole rather than simple wins and losses. In that regard, let’s breakdown how each player looked in this first game:

GUARDS

CJ Cox

CJ was just his usual, steady self in this game but notably played off ball similarly to last season. Cox flashed his efficient self shooting the ball going 2-3 from behind the arc and playing really good on-ball defense.

Omar Mayer

Mayer’s ability to get his own shot was apparent in this game and he is probably going to be able to do that against most defenders next season. Mayer wasn’t very efficient, going just 3-10, but he showed his ability to impact the game through his rebounding (7). Mayer is going to have some big, big games scoring this season but he’ll need to fix the efficiency issues and work to make sure the ball doesn’t stick in his hands early in the shot clock. I’m not sure Purdue has a better late shot clock option than Mayer this season outside of freshman Luke Ertel.

Gicarri Harris

If there was one guy who made a statement for himself more than any other it was Harris. Although the junior guard got a late start this summer due to a broken nose, Harris certainly asserted himself in this exhibition. Although the shooting was a bit lacking, going just 5-12, Harris was 3-6 from behind the arc, had 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. A lot of focus has been on Mayer but Harris may be the one player to benefit the most from the graduation of Loyer and Smith.

Luke Ertel

For the 2026 Indiana Mr. Basketball, expectations couldn’t be higher as Purdue looks for the guard to take over for Braden Smith. Twitter is certainly pushing for him to start now following his performance but this is a vastly different team he is on now versus the one that was clearly lacking guard options when Smith entered as a freshman. That not to say Ertel wasn’t impressive because he most certainly was and if he finds a way into the starting lineup, that speaks volumes about the level of player Purdue has.

Ertel just looks comfortable playing at any pace the game is going and it doesn’t feel like he is ever rushed. That was something I noticed watching him in high school and on the AAU circuits but really was apparent this evening in his first as a Boiler. There will be higher level competition moving forward but Ertel just has that Smith-esq edge to him about wanting to push the ball and find guys either diving to the hoop or spotting up for an open three. It just seems to flow easily for Ertel and he is only going to continue to improve from here.

Antoine West

West has always been known as a player who was elite offensively and this exhibition flashed that. West scored a team his 21 points on 8-11 shooting and 5-7 behind the arc and linked some of the comments made by Braden Smith last season for why West could become a big time part of the program. It’ll probably be a struggle for West to find minutes this season but he could certainly establish himself in a role as a microwave-type scorer this season for Purdue.

FORWARDS

Jack Benter

Benter looked good but it’ll be interesting to see where he fits in as Pierce gets up to speed and Enzo starts playing. He is more naturally built for that bigger guard role with Harris but will it be beneficial to have those two split minutes when they both certainly deserve to start. Benter may be the best shooter on the team and he just makes everyone on the floor better because of everything else he does that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.

Caden Pierce

Pierce flashed the reason why he was a highly regarded transfer in the early parts of last season. He runs the floor at a high level and can finish well above the rim, as he showed in the second half off a pass from Luke Ertel. Pierce isn’t going to stretch the floor at a high level but what he does rebounding, defending, and running the floor makes him a valuable piece of the puzzle. Pierce’s 4-5 shooting shows the potential as more of an old-school type power forward for the Boilers this season alongside some high level shooters.

Jacob Webber

Welcome to the show Mr. Webber! The lengthy forward was regarded as one of the best shooters from behind the arc in the 2026 class and he showed that with his first shot attempt. In the first half, Webber caught the ball and elevated over a defender and drilled a deep three from the left wing. Webber ended up going 3-5 from behind the arc and a guy like that is going to be hard to keep off the floor if he can figure out the defensive side of the ball.

Rivers Knight

Knight looked good in his limited minutes but it’s clear he is going to need a year or two to really impact this roster. That’s not a knock on Knight at all as he would be a main contributor at several over B1G program next year, in my opinion, but serves as a reminder of the level of talent Purdue has from top to bottom of the roster.

CENTERS

Daniel Jacobsen

DJ still appears to be trying to figure out who he wants to be. Can be be a dominate center that scores and blocks shots at a level that can make him an All-B1G type player? Yes, and at times it looks like it’ll come easier for him than most. Then, all of a sudden, he struggles on both ends for long stretches in a game like he did against Langara. DJ was frequently behind on block attempts, took two threes that he missed, and just didn’t appear to really impact the game on either side of the ball the way a 7’4 player should at this point in time.

Raleigh Burgess

Burgess looked really good even though he didn’t score a bunch. Burgess is very clearly one of the players that other have looked to as a leader and the junior big man looks like he is fully healed after two years of being injured.

Sinan Huan

Sinan didn’t get a whole lot of minutes but the big man had a nice block and set some really solid screens. It’s apparent he needs some time to develop but like his fellow freshman, Huan could develop into a big man that impacts the game on both ends at a very high level. It’s very clear that, when Enzo is available, Huan is deep on the depth chart.

OVERALL:

Allow the hot takes and the over reactions to flow! This team was probably very similar to a 300+ Kenpom team like Evansville or Eastern Illinois. You can learn a lot of things from a game like this and the early ability to review game tape for improvement makes even a blow out beneficial to evefry player on the roster.