Malik Reneau, a former Indiana Hoosier for three years, faces his old rival Purdue again. Can his tournament experience and familiarity with the Boilermakers lead Miami to victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday?
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Malik Reneau spent the first three years of his college career at Indiana, so he's very familiar with the importance of the rivalry with Purdue.
Reneau, a Miami, Fla. native, went back home to finish his career, transferring to Miami after his coach at IU, Mike Woodson, was fired. He's had a great year, too, averaging 19.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
But to stop his college career from ending on Sunday, he and his Miami Hurricanes need to find a way to beat Purdue in the second round of NCAA Tournament's West Regional in St. Louis. It's the first of eight games on Sunday, starting at 12:15 p.m. ET.
Reneau has some good history with that. He was 3-3 against Purdue during his career in Bloomington, and won the last meeting in February of 2025, going a perfect 7-for-7 from the field in a 73-58 win over the No. 13-ranked Boilers at Assembly Hall.
"It's going to be a fun game. I'm super excited,'' Reneau told reporters on Saturday. "Not just because I've been at IU and know the rivals in the state. Man, just playing with these guys, it's always been fun playing with them. It's just another obstacle, another road game that we have to come through.
"Just having that experience and knowing what they've done on the offensive end and what they do as a program at Purdue. So I've just been letting these guys know what we're going to see ahead of time and get everybody's minds ready for what we're going to face on Sunday.''
Reneua's teammate at Miami is point guard Tre Donaldson, who played at Michigan last year and had three meetings with Purdue, winning two. The pair is trying to not make too much of the matchup, but it's certainly real.
"I feel like just our experience with them is going to help us a lot,'' Donaldson said. "Purdue has been doing what they do for a long time. This is nothing new. Coach Painter has had the program down pat and he's done a great job with the program.
"Me being able to play them last year three times, knowing what it takes to win, it's just a big thing that I can not only relate to the young guys, but to Malik, as well. Me and Malik bounce a lot of ideas and thoughts off of each other on how we can help each other win. Him playing in the Big Ten for three years and being familiar with the program and what it means to him. I feel like it's going to be a big thing for us.''
Reneau agrees.
"Yeah. I wouldn't say it's an advantage, but yeah, just being familiar with the opponent, just giving these guys a heads-up,'' Reneau said. "Like I was saying earlier, just a heads-up on the type of actions and concepts they like to run. They got a lot of plays in their play book. So we have to be prepared for everything. And just being prepared for everything. I mean, that's what I've been telling them, just showing them the little concepts and how to guard ball screens because those are going to be vital in this game.''
Reneau plays a different kind of game at Miami, where he spends much more time on the perimeter than on the block like he did at Indiana. He made more threes this year — 26 — than he did in his first three years total at Indiana (20). Last year, he was just 3-for-24 from three-point range with the Hoosiers. He's a much bigger threat now, and he'll be at spots on the floor now that Purdue hasn't seen before.
"Probably not so much (scouting knowledge). The way I play is quite different than how I played at IU,'' Reneau said. "So I mean, we're going to be able to put me in space and it's going to be harder to double team and stuff like that. Yeah, that's pretty much the biggest difference.
Reneau and Purdue senior Trey Kaufman-Renn have had plenty of battles through the years. Reneau is also familiar with point guard Braden Smith, who broke the NCAA all-time assist record in Friday's win.
"Braden Smith is a great point guard. Congratulations on him getting the assist record,'' Reneau said. "But, yeah, I mean, we've got to show him a lot of crowds. He's a great passer and he's the fuel to their offense.
"So being able to defend him without fouling and stuff like that so we can get an edge on him because he's the fuel to their offense. So if we can stop him, we can stop Purdue.''
There's a Miami perspective that Reneau and Donaldson were ''undervalued'' at their previous spots in the Big Ten. That's not entirely true, but there's still something personal to this matchup. Reneau and Donaldson would love to eliminate the Boilers — and keep their own season alive.
"I would be naive to think that it's not going to be some type of emotion that comes with it, because there is familiarity and there is somewhat of a rival with Malik and Indiana and Purdue and what that feels like,'' first-year Miami coach Jai Lucas said. "And Michigan and Purdue, with Purdue being at the top of the league every year, it's the same for Tre. So for me, it's try to get them to stay as level-headed as possible, but also letting them live in the moment a little bit and just go out and attack it. And that's our whole thing.
"Just go and get it. Go flow, go aggressively in doing it. But also doing it with poise and with patience. So that's the part where I gotta kind of reel them in at times. But last night was an emotional game. There was a lot of emotion within the game. Former teammates, former staff. Road game. So this game will have its own emotion in it, and what you just talked about will be a big part with it with them. But them being seniors, it'll take them a little bit, but I expect by the first media it will be under control.''