Purdue Coach Matt Painter Details Slowing Down Illinois' 'Explosive' Offense

The raw stats reflect it, the advanced analytics support it and the eye test certainly backs it up: Illinois is an elite offensive team. Still, although that may be obvious enough even to the most elementary-level ball-knower, it’s best broken down by someone far more qualified than us.

Ahead of the Illinois-Purdue clash on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m. CT, FOX), Boilermakers head coach Painter addressed the media and spoke about the challenge the Illini offense poses – and how he intends to meet it:

Matt Painter details Illinois' offense ahead of Purdue-Illinois showdown

“Very explosive offensive team. They can hurt you in a lot of different ways," Painter said. "Everybody shoots threes. Everybody’s a good decision-maker. They don’t play through the post, but they will if you switch or they just like a matchup.

“But more than anything, they just kind of take what the defense gives them and they play. They put you in a lot of binds. Obviously, [Keaton] Wagler’s a very good player – good with the basketball. Can hurt you in a lot of ways. But good spacing, good teaching. They know what they’re doing. It’s just one of those games where you have to do a good job on the basketball. You can’t get behind plays. If you get behind plays, it gets to hit or miss – and you don’t like that as a coach. Because everybody can shoot threes. And everybody can spread you out."

Matt Painter pinpoints the key to slowing down Illinois' offense

Boiled down to its core, one-on-one defense will be of the utmost importance for Purdue on Saturday – and any team facing Illinois in a given game. Facing the Illini’s five-out scheme and across-the-board shooting ability, opponents take a big chance anytime they help off on drives. Moral of the story: Don’t get beat.

But that’s a task itself. Andrej Stojakovic and Wagler are both loads going to the rack – particularly the former, who just went for 30 points on Wednesday night against Maryland. And, as Painter notes, there's more:

Andrej Stojakovic vs Maryland today🔥:

30 PTS | 4-7 3PT | 9 REB pic.twitter.com/LAMh4ZoO1k
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) January 22, 2026

“They’re just an elite offensive rebounding team. And they do a great job of crashing. They do a great job of understanding the angles of where rebounds go and they just fight like hell to get extra possessions. And I think that’s where it starts with them. Can you guard them? Can you box them out? And if you can’t get past those two, [then] you’re probably getting beat."

With the eighth-best rebounding margin in the country (plus-11.1), Illinois is extremely tough on the glass. That said, Purdue isn’t far behind, as Painter’s club claims a plus-8.4 margin of its own on the boards (No. 21 in the country).

“So I think that’s where it is for, not just us, but for anybody that plays them," Painter said. "Don’t beat yourself. Don’t turn the basketball over.

“Try to flip it on them. Get on the offensive glass yourself. But at the other end, you got to make it difficult. They’re going to make some shots. They’re the No. 1 offense in the country. They’re going to make some shots. You just can’t put them to the free-throw line, you can’t give them layups and you can't give them rhythm threes. Easier said than done, because they’re very efficient in what they do.”