Matt Painter Preaches Importance of Composure Following Purdue's Win Over Memphis

One 27-second stretch in the first half of Thursday's game between No. 1 Purdue and Memphis in the Baha Mar Championship showed Matt Painter that his team can still get rattled. Despite having veteran leadership on the floor, an emotional reaction to a few foul calls put the Boilermakers in a tough spot just before halftime.

From the 1:18 mark to the 51-second mark in the first half, senior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn was called for two fouls. Frustrated with the whistle, the Purdue star let the officials hear about his displeasure with the calls, which resulted in a technical foul.

In those 27 seconds, Kaufman-Renn went from the game's most impactful player — 10 points, nine rebounds, and three assists — to having to sit the first eight minutes of the second half because of foul trouble.

Then, with 2:15 remaining and Purdue leading 73-65, Kaufman-Renn picked up his fifth foul. He would have to watch the remainder of the game from the bench.

Kaufman-Renn's emotion didn't cost Purdue, as the Boilermakers remained undefeated with an 80-71 win over the Tigers on Thursday night, but Painter knows his players have to keep their cool in those situations.

"Emotional people, in basketball and in business, they're not good decision makers. We got emotional," Painter said. "TK not being able to start the second half, or finish the second half, is because of getting frustrated, saying something, and getting a technical. You just can't have that. That was the message to the team — worry about what you can control."

Purdue Boilermakers forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (4) reacts after the game | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Kaufman-Renn was the only one who got whistled for a technical foul on the Purdue side, but Memphis's style of play certainly irritated the Boilers for most of the night. That frustration allowed the Tigers to hang around for most of the night, putting a scare in the nation's top-ranked team.

Ultimately, Purdue was able to get through the frustration and punched its ticket to the championship game of the Baha Mar Championship on Friday night, where it will play No. 15 Texas Tech. But Painter believes his team got a little lucky.

For Purdue to have the kind of success it wants this season, the emotional outbursts have to be kept to a minimum. It's a lesson Painter has tried to teach in practice, but one he still needs to hammer home.

"I ref our practices. I do it by myself and I never run. So, think about how many times I'm out of position and I just guess," Painter said. "They always say, 'Coach, you missed this, you missed this.' I say, 'Learn to play the game and move to the next play and not be emotional.' That's what a real player does. I didn't think we did a good job of that, and since I'm the head coach, I have to do a better job of getting that message across to our guys."

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