Everything Matt Painter Said After Purdue's 90-81 Win Over Iowa

Despite some first half struggles on Tuesday night, No. 7 Purdue picked up an important road win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, defeating Iowa 90-81. The Boilermakers improved to 5-1 in Big Ten road games this season and are 10-2 overall in league play.

Braden Smith had a brilliant performance, scoring 31 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists. Trey Kaufman-Renn had another big night, scoring 25 points and seven rebounds. Caleb Furst also had a great effort, ending the game with 10 points and nine boards.

After another key conference win, Purdue coach Matt Painter spoke with reporters. Here's everything he had to say.

On Purdue's hot start to the second half offensively ...

Painter: "Just execution. I thought they did a good job defending us in the first half. They got aggressive on some traps and we didn't handle it well as a staff in terms of making an adjustment. Obviously, in the second half, we made an adjustment — a couple of those baskets had nothing to do with that.

"Making good decisions. We got it centered a couple of times, got it to the other side and just made the right plays. Had some step-in threes and opportunities in transition.

"We just had to settle in. We didn't grab any energy until we made shots. The way we started the game, I thought Iowa had better energy than us. Sometimes, when you get on the road, you can't get out of that rut. We were pretty fortunate, I thought, to be tied at halftime. That allowed us to be in a game that we could manage a little bit better.

"Obviously we (got the lead) to 12, then they whittle it down and it kind of seesawed from there. People have to spend a lot of energy when they're down. These guys are unbelievable — they're down 10 or 12 points and they just erase it in about 2 minutes with their ability to make shots."

On the impact of Caleb Furst's energy ...

Painter: "We needed to be able to get some second-chance points. We needed to be able to play in transition, but we also needed to play off of offensive rebounds. Those types of plays really got us going.

"I thought Caleb was good, I thought he did a lot of really good things. Would have had a really big night if he would have made his free throws. I thought his effort and his energy was really good, especially in that (second half) stretch."

On getting momentum from Braden Smith's shot at the end of the first half ...

Painter: "It just helps you because we didn't play great. I think they had a lot to do with that, but we didn't play that great. But, hey, we haven't played a great half here but it's still tied. We got it in a good position. I think it really helps. We obviously had a nice run to start the second half."

On Braden Smith's play with Trey Kaufman-Renn on the bench ...

Painter: "We really wanted him. after we made some adjustments, to look to score more. Drive the ball more than anything. Get them on their heels, get them to put two, three guys around the basketball, then get the ball out of your hands. If they don't, you obviously have a couple driving layups.

"He's a great player, he gets it figured out. You can get him a little bit here and there, but he normally gets things figured out. Getting him to score has really helped our program, really helped our program. That's what we need. Trey gets in foul trouble or whatever, you've got to have people who stay up who can create things for themselves. Not every player that you have can create for themselves. It's a big piece if you have numerous guys who can do that and play at an efficient level."

On Braden Smith's leadership style ...

Painter: "He's a quintessential point, more than anything. He's not that lead guard that scores, even though tonight he was that lead guard that we needed. But, you know, he leads more from competing and going at people. He enjoys the competition, enjoys the fight, loves to win. He's won — if you go look at his record in high school, college, he's won at every level he's played at.

"He leads by example probably more than anything. But when he gets it going like he does tonight, that's just a spark for us in terms of what we need. Trey's been getting in foul trouble a lot, so that's important for us."

On finding offensive balance later in the game ...

Painter: "I think just the balance of it. When they put two people on the ball on ball screens, you've got to be able to get the ball out of there and get it moving and make plays because you're into 4-on-3, 3-on-2, 2-on-1 once the ball gets out of there. They did a good job of causing those turnovers in the first half, and we didn't really help Braden flashing in there.

"The same holds true for Trey. Now they start doubling Trey, you've got to repost him or you have to move it and get an open shot or drive their close-outs. If you can't do that, now they've got you stymied. I thought it was important for us to be able — when they doubled us — we have to be able to make a productive play.

"We've lived off that with the size that we've had. So, we have heavy experience of people doubling our bigs and playing out of it. Now, this year probably isn't as much. Trey sees a lot more 1-on-1s than Zach (Edey) did."

On Trey Kaufman-Renn getting into foul trouble again ...

Painter: "He needs to stop fouling. He needs to stop fouling because we don't have a low-post scorer like that. It doesn't mean we can't be a good team without him, because we can, but I don't think we're the same prolific team without him. That's the piece, where he's got to play without fouling.

"On the one play, it's a good call by the ref, he turns his body. He's got to be vertical. It's simple. He fouls there at the end, he reaches down and then he acts like — well whether you touched him or not, you don't reach when someone is shooting, you get your hands up high. You reach when someone is driving the basketball.

"He's got to learn and understand. Like, the two fouls they called against Indiana, illegal screens, they're both fouls and they're both good calls. Own what's going on. You're seeing that pattern. Let's stop that pattern. If you get a bad call, you get a bad call. You can't do anything about that. But he's not getting that bad of calls. He's got to make that adjustment so he can stay in the game.

"But we're not going to be as good, especially in the low post, when he's not in there. We're just not. We don't even try it. We just play differently."

On how Trey Kaufman-Renn's productivity in the first half opened up passing lanes ...

Painter: "A lot, because then they really committed to him. He was able to get out of it and make some really nice reads. He pump faked the one time, he got CJ (Cox) that three in the corner. He's a good passer. He got him the pocket pass where Fletch(er Loyer) hit the three early in the second half.

"He's really improved his passing, he's done a great job."

On struggling to get stops at times vs. Iowa ...

Painter: "They got us on some backdoors. They do a good job of getting you, and they drive and they jump-stop, and then everybody cuts off of it. They back-cut you, they come for handoffs, they look for spray-out threes and it's difficult. (Payton) Sandfort and (Josh) Dix are so good with it, but they're also good without the basketball. Their movement really caused a lot of problems for us.

"I thought a couple times we fell asleep on some dribbles and they went backdoor on us. Dix got us at least twice, maybe three times that way. We've got to do a better job of concentrating.

"What they do is they make multiple cuts and they make you make decisions, and right as you break they have you. You don't see a great deal of that in college basketball. They are great at moving without the basketball. We've got to do a better job of it.

"Once they get going, when you deal with Josh Dix and Payton Sandfort, once they get going, they'll make tough ones. That's the problem. Normally when you deal with people, if you get them to take a tough one, they normally miss them. Then we started fouling them , Josh Dix, I thought that was a really good move. Pretty smart.

"We just started fouling him and I'm like, 'What are we doing?' You know what I mean? Keep making him make tough pull-ups. And I know he made a couple, but fouling him doesn't help anything. Obviously, he didn't make his free throws like he's capable of, but still. You have to do a better job."

On how Owen Freeman's absence affected the plan ...

Painter: "It affects how we deal with the post because he's a post-up player. He does a really good job of getting into that short roll that we do with Trey Kaufman-Renn. He gets there and he'll take off like a trampoline. He'll rip and go off of one foot and you think where in the hell is everybody else?

"Dix and Sandfort are opposite, so people stay home there. It gives him those alleys. So it really puts you in a bind when he gets that ball right there at the nail and he has good spacing. He can drive, draw fouls, he's great at taking mismatches and then pinning small people and just throwing over the top. He goes in transition.

"Think about tonight. How many transition kick-aheads did they get at the rim? That's a Luka Garza special. He does that, too. He runs and gets that. He just puts a stresser on you as a guy who can drive it, a guy who can play in the post and a guy who can play in transition. And he's their best rebounder.

"We started to prepare for him, obviously, When that happened, that's a little bit different because those other guys don't have the same skill package.