Matt Painter Explains How Purdue's Defense Can Improve Entering Postseason Play

When Purdue was playing its best basketball of the year, its effort on the defensive end was the culprit behind the success. It's also been the Boilermakers' greatest burden in defeat, specifically during the final seven-game stretch to close out the regular season.

Purdue has dropped five of its last seven games to close out the regular season, a stretch that cost the Boilers a shot at a third straight Big Ten regular season title. And while there are plenty of areas where they can improve on the court, coach Matt Painter says the biggest issue over the last month has been mental.

"Inconsistent isn't bad. Bad means you just don't ever do it. Inconsistent means you're having some success and then you're not having success," he told reporters on Wednesday. "The factors, in my opinion, isn't anything other than concentration. We've got to do a better job of doing our job and just concentrating and competing at a high (level)."

From late December through early February, Purdue won 11 times in a 12-game stretch and sat atop the Big Ten standings. During that run, the Boilermakers were thriving because of their defensive pressure, forcing opponents into 15.2 turnovers per game.

Over the last seven games? That number has been cut nearly in half. Purdue's opponents are averaging just 8.6 turnovers per game. Only twice in that stretch have the Boilers forced a double-digit number of turnovers — a loss 75-73 to Michigan (11 turnovers) and a 76-66 win over UCLA (14).

The inability to force turnovers isn't the only thing plaguing Purdue. Painter says teams have been able to get the basketball into the painted area too frequently over the last month.

"We've got to be better at the end of a game defensively — we've got to be better defensively, period. We're just allowing the ball (in the paint) way too much. How we scheme, how we do things ... we're negligent sometimes in areas that we're successful. I think that's the frustrating part for us as a group," he said.

"We'll have success doing something, and then we'll be absent-minded and give up a couple of layups. You've got to make them earn it. So, when they make tough ones over you — you don't want anyone to score, but you can live with those. You just can't live with point-blank layups or missed boxouts or not doing what you're supposed to do in ball-screen defense."

The first signs of trouble came against Wisconsin on Feb. 15, when the Boilers dropped a 94-84 game to Wisconsin. The Badgers were an impressive 20-of-22 from inside the 3-point line and accounted for 36 points in the paint. In the following game, Michigan State got 42 points in the paint in a 75-66 victory. Indiana scored 44 in the painted area just a few days later against Purdue's defense.

For most of the season, Purdue's offense has played well enough to win basketball games. The Boilermakers are averaging 78.3 points per game and are shooting nearly 39% from 3-point range. Those kind of numbers are good enough to make a deep run in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.

But Purdue is going to have to get some stops on the other end of the court, too.

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