Video: Here's What Matt Painter Said After Purdue's 87-66 Win At Indiana
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Purdue dominated Indiana Tuesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall en route to an 87-66 victory. Reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey scored 33 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Fletcher Loyer scored 19 points and Lance Jones added 17.
Here's everything Purdue coach Matt Painter said after the game.
On stopping Indiana's second-half run...
Painter: "We were getting pretty good shots and they weren't going down to start the second half. Their shots were, so obviously they made a quick – they closed the gap at that media timeout by about 10 points. When we subbed right there, I thought defensively, I thought Cam did some good things. I thought Ethan did some good things. And then we were able to push that lead back. I think that's where, when we talk about with those guys, like what's the score when you come in and the score when you sub back out, so it take everybody and those guys have done a really good job defensively for us, Cam and Ethan. We started Mason to start the second half, just from an offensive spacing purpose and he played really well in the first half. Then when Trey came in, it's funny how that works, right? Trey played really well when he subbed back in, did a lot of really good things. So just proud of our guys, a total team effort."
On winning in a hostile environment...
Painter: "Yeah, we've had a lot of great wins, but a lot of great neutral wins and that's really helped our résumé. But we haven't, outside of at Maryland, we haven't really played that well on the road in true road games. This was just our fifth game, so we needed a game like this. We needed to play better. We needed to shoot better. But we also needed to give ourselves a chance and not turn the ball over. I think if you look at the box score, we gave ourselves a chance. When you get into these rivalry games, anything can go. So when they quickly cut our lead by 10 points, that's exactly what you're thinking, right. I know you guys have never stood up there and coached a game, but you really think at that time when it's at four possessions, five possessions, it could happen. But you've got to keep your poise and keep your patience and just keep doing what you did to get in that position."
On Fletcher Loyer's performance...
Painter: "Yeah, the three he made in the second half was big when they were making that run, he pushed it back to 14. It was at 11, but he just had timely shots and was very, very steady for us tonight going 5-for-6 and 4-for-4 from three and gettin 19 points. Fletch is a good player. He does a great job of playing off of Braden. He does a great job of playing off of Zach."
On impact of Mackenzie Mgbako picking up his second foul...
Painter: "Yeah, he's a good player. He's talented, and his ability to make shots and his ability to do things off the bounce a little bit, he's really come. He's one of those guys that's going to be really good next year. He's had that learning curve. You watch him those first five or six games and you watch him now, he's a different player. He's guarding, he's defending, he's doing what coach wants him to. That was a big play. When you can come in there, you can bring guys like Mason Gillis off your bench, Caleb Furst off your bench, Ethan, Cam, Myles, all those guys, it's a real spark because they're really not subs. They're starters that come off the bench."
On Braden Smith impacting game outside of 2-for-14 shooting night...
Painter: Yeah, Braden is a good player. He's competitive. He's got poise. He sees the floor. He takes to coaching. He understands what they're trying to do, what they're trying to take away. He has a good feel for where Zach is and what Zach is trying to do, you've got to give him time sometimes to get back in there depending on how they're guarding him. Outside of just his finishes, we've got to do a better job of working with him on speed-dribble finishes because he's good at that and tonight it just didn't fall for him. But he was in control of the game. He had the ball in his hands more than anyone on that court. He was definitely in control."
On Zach Edey's last game at Assembly Hall...
Painter: "Well he's a good player. He didn't shoot a good percentage, but it's a really good game for him. We kept him in there a long time, he didn't get very many breaks. He played 36 minutes, and when he got fatigued I thought he missed a couple. But I also thought he got fatigued and he made a couple. He kept going at Ware, kept holding him accountable. But, you know, Zach's the best. There's no way around it. He rebounds the basketball. He causes a lot of attention. You see when he goes one on one, he's going to draw some fouls. He's going to score the basketball. He gets a lot of rebounds, and he's a real tough cover."
On limiting Kel'el Ware and Malik Reneau...
Painter: "Reneau was the guy for us. We thought that he was the one, and we gave him a lot of attention. So when he dribbled, when he was extended, we put another guy there. We went at him and tried to double him. We got a couple rotations that got burned that way, but he's so good when he gets to his right shoulder and gets to the middle, whether he's driving it or he's posting it. So you've got to keep him off the glass. He had two offensive rebounds, but he's a good player. That combination – Ware's ability to stretch the defense, you know for us, that puts us in a bind, any time people can stretch us out. But Zach has gotten so much better in ball screen defense and switching and guarding people and doing different things. We had Ware in USA basketball, he's a talent. But obviously, I always say the adjustment to go against Zach, it takes a game. It takes a game to kind of feel your way through it. It's like playing a good pressing team and you press in practice and you're not a pressing team and it's like, 'Okay, we're ready for this team,' and you get to the game and you're like, 'Oh, shit. We didn't see this in practice.' [Ware] ain't seeing [Edey] in practice. So it's difficult to see someone that can move that's 7-foot-4, 300 [pounds] with size 20 [shoes] that plays hard every single play. Who the hell is diving up 18 at 7-foot-4, 300? That just kind of shows you who he is."
On what he learned about this team as it won a road game...
Painter: "Just the resolve. That isn't easy. That's an unbelievable environment. The fans here are amazing, and they come out and they support their team. They've been spoiled through the years. They've had some great, great teams here. A lot of tradition here, but to be able to come in here and be up 22 at half is a huge statement for our team. Just the confidence, because we've come back-to-back years and the first half been terrible. But I think a lot of that has to do with the fans and the players of Indiana, they made us play that ways. And tonight, we did it. But we did it in this hornet's nest, which is a big compliment to our team."
On Caleb Furst and Ethan Morton...
Painter: "Yeah, Ethan played well. Ethan came in and defended and did some really good things. He defended and made some good decisions. Caleb had some really good minutes in the first half. We stayed with Zach a little bit more in the second half, so that shortened it for him. I thought Mason had a really good first half. He really helped us in that first half, you look at his plus-minus. Then in the second half, we just felt like we had to get someone more physical on Reneau and we had that struggle in the first five, six minutes and I thought Trey Kaufman did a really good job."
On Zach Edey's improvements that make him a potential lottery pick...
Painter: "We've veered more in ball screens. We've switched more when the ball has gotten deep, and so his ability to guard the basketball, his ability to get out on the perimeter. When you compare him to someone who's 6'8, 210, you know, it's a lot different, right. But when you compare him to people his size, he's really moving. He's really doing a good job. He makes his free throws. He can shoot on the perimeter, I just don't let him. People get upset about it, but you know who would really like if he shot on the perimeter? Those guys guarding him. They'd really like that. I love just keep going at him like a football mentality, just keep making them pay. Just keep posting. You're not going to keep the guy, right? He's not going to be a 15-year vet at Purdue. You don't keep him. You've got to let him play to his strengths right there. But no, he protects the rim better. When he gets a foul, we get him to stay on his feet. So when you saw Sparks make that one and do whatever, our whole bench is just yelling at him to stay down, stay down, because we don't need him to get two. So a little bit of that. He's improved defensively. He's a willing passer. He doesn't have the bullshit because he didn't get recruited. That's the best way I can put it. These guys, they get recruited and they come here and then they've got to field a team, and now you've got to come in here and play a role. It's like the great college players. If you can't rebound and you can't defend and you can't play a role in the NBA, you can't play in the NBA, outside of like three or four guys in the draft. You've got to be able to do those things. He does a lot of little things that help a team win, and so that's why I think they've got a place there for him because those things have improved. But he can rebound, he can pass, he can score with his back to the basket. I think he's got a spot."
On Lance Jones' 3-point shooting...
Painter: "Just playing off of other people. When you get into a situation and you have a great point guard and you have a great big guy that garner a lot of attention, just take what comes your way. Obviously he made the one that they called the illegal screen on, so he was 3-of-7, but he would have been 4-for-8. But I liked at the end of the game just how hard he ran on the break and got us a couple layups. We've had teams where we didn't have that, right. So when we had Carson or we had [Jaden Ivey], those guys could get us those types of buckets. But when we haven't had those type of guys – he's not at their level, but that's what we need. We need him to be able to steal some baskets in transition and then just take his threes that come his Ware."
On Indiana's struggles when Mgbako and Ware sat with two fouls...
Painter: "Yeah, well you have a little bit of a drop off. Kel'el Ware and Mgbako are probably going to be in the NBA, right. You have a little bit of a drop off. Zach Edey gets in foul trouble, he goes off, even though we have good players, you have a little bit of a drop off, right. So that's what you want to be able to do, and that's what I constantly try to do with the development of our program – have guys, make sure you have enough guys that when foul trouble hits or injuries hit, you have guys that are ready to roll and ready to play, and that's really hard because everyone wants to start. Everyone wants to play 30 minutes, but it doesn't work that way. So it's hard to field a team these days in this landscape, but we definitely took advantage of it. No different than Nebraska took advantage of us when Zach went out at the end of the first half in our game with them."
On Zach Edey diving for a loose ball...
Painter: "Yeah, no question. To instinctually do it, not where you had to be like, 'Oh, I guess I've got to do this.' Like no, he instinctually dove and got us a loose ball and got us a possession back. No question about it. He's fun to coach."
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