What Matt Painter Said After Purdue's Exhibition Loss to Kentucky

No. 1 Purdue took the floor for the first time during the 2025-26 season, playing No. 9 Kentucky in an exhibition game. The Boilermakers suffered a 78-65 loss, but learned plenty about themselves throughout the game.

Following the contest, coach Matt Painter met with reporters to talk about the game. Here's everything he had to say after the loss.

On Kentucky's size and how it impacted Purdue ...

Painter: "We don't do a lot of preparation, as you can tell, for these games. More than anything, I thought they embraced the physicality of the game. I liked how they used [Brandon] Garrison, I like their five out there. Malachi [Moreno] is a guy we recruited and put a lot of time into. He's got a promising future.

"They have a good mix of athletes and guys who can shoot. Those guys who came off the bench, I thought Jasper Johnson, could have been the difference in the game. He made some big shots, made some big plays.

"I like what they do offensively. I think they're similar to us — they got a lot of good shots today and didn't miss them ... I didn't think there was a lot of defense out there. I don't think either team is going to get compared to the '85 Bears right now.

"You can't outscore people all the time, right? You have to have a good balance, and I think that's going to be an issue for both teams. I think both teams are pretty good offensively, but who can be better defensively, who can be better rebounding? Tonight, it was them, especially rebounding.

"I thought we did a good job of taking care of the ball, taking open shots, we just didn't knock them down. But when you only turn it over seven times, you need to steal some possessions there, but they only turned it over nine.

"But, you know, I thought the tougher team won. And that normally happens early in the year. I think they have a chance to have a good team."

On what Purdue can take away from this game defensively ...

Painter: "Yeah, when people just get the blow-by, there's not a whole lot for that. Our point of attack, where we're picking up the basketball, sometimes we can switch that up. We were up on them crossing half court. They had a couple turn-downs in the first half, that exposed us a little bit.

"It was just trying to navigate at 25 feet. [Collin] Chandler had that drive for the dunk. Jasper Johnson is very twitchy, change of direction, change of pace, keeps you off balance.

"Otega [Oweh], he's good working angles and getting downhill. I know he didn't have a bunch of opportunities today because he didn't have a bunch of minutes.

"More than anything, you have to keep the ball out of the paint, and I thought Kentucky just did a better job than us of getting the ball in the paint. My thing is, it's not too much of a physical issue to me, it's more of a mental concentration. You have to concentrate and keep the ball in front of you. And, sure, good players with quickness and good ball skills are going to beat you at times, but they can't beat you all the time. So that's what you search out. We have to get that combination of balance on both ends."

On how much missing shots impacted the defense ...

Painter: "It was very similar with last year. I know it's only 10 offensive rebounds, but they dominated the defensive glass. You can't go on a run if you don't get stops. If you don't make baskets, it speaks for itself, they're going on a run. If you're not scoring and they are.

"We have to do a better job of getting those kills — getting three stops in a row to get that kill, and then you can get back into the game. So, yeah, there's no doubt if you're scoring the basketball and constantly setting your defense, it's going to help you.

"They do a good job with their kick aheads offensively, that's what we wanted to stop. That's why we came out and picked the ball up, so they wouldn't get those kick aheads, but they got it a couple of times.

"You can't stop kick aheads when it's primary breaks, 4-on-2, 4-on-3, 5-on-3, whatever. They took advantage of those. If they would have made their free throws in that one stretch, I know they didn't have a lot of misses, but those four misses, three of them were right in that stretch.

"I thought we came out in the second half and we had a little pop to us, but that dissolved quickly."

On what he saw from Braden Smith and Omer Mayer ...

Painter: "You look at their minutes from their starters besides [Denzel] Aberdeen, and you have to remember Jaland Lowe isn't playing ... [Mark Pope] balanced numbers, and they walked us.

"Look at the guys we played, the top three guys from last year played 28, 31, and 32, and Aberdeen is the only one who has high minutes, because they have to because they don't have Lowe. So, this could have been worse. They could have played those guys [more], but he was trying to get guys in there.

"This is the third year in a row we've went on the road to play a game like this. We played Arkansas, we played Creighton, and we've lost them all. I know it sounds crazy, but it's really helped us. Doesn't feel that way right now, but it helped us.

"A lot of times in basketball, early in the season, you don't know your problems. Your real problems. We have real problems. I don't care where we're ranked, we have real problems. I think that allows us to go back and practice, eat our humble pie, and try to get better so we can have a great season."

On how you coach Braden Smith on an off night ...

Painter: "Just be positive with him. When you do good things in basketball and you don't get a good result, you have to be positive. A lot of times, people who watch games and they don't understand the game, you just go off of the results.

"Offensively, I'm not worries about us offensively. We missed some shots. But, defensively, I am. That's where he has to show better leadership, along with our older guys and do a better job on the defensive end.

But he's a great player and I wouldn't trade him for anybody in the country. He's won a lot of games for us."

On his thoughts on Malachi Moreno ...

Painter: "Yeah, we recruited him a lot, and then when we got big guys we had to back off him. It doesn't mean we would have got him.

"A lot of times in AAU, you're playing out of structure, you're not practicing a bunch. Sometimes for big guys, it's just harder to be consistent. So, I told these guys when they got the job [at Kentucky] right away, I said, 'Take Malachi Moreno. He's going to be good.' They'd go and sometimes he'd be [shaky], but I told them, 'I promise you.' He's got good substance, he's a good kid, he's long, he wants to be a player. Just too many good qualities. When you have character and you have talent and you're 7-foot-1, just keep working, and they're going to be great.

"Sometimes guys get ranked or are McDonald's All-Americans and you're like, 'What the hell is his problem? He had four against Auburn? Well, first of all, Auburn is pretty good. Second, he's 18 or 19 years old, and that's just part of the process of learning and growing. But he's going to help them win big. He's a good one."

On the play of Kentucky's guards without Jaland Lowe ...

Painter: "I thought Aberdeen was good. I thought he took a couple of ill-advised shots that will get corrected in time. He kind of played through the crowd, took a few pull-up threes. I liked his energy. I don't know Lowe, obviously we're not in the league that he was in before, but I've watched him, read a lot about him.

"Great teams, when things happen, you're going to get foul trouble, you're going to get injuries, and somebody is going to get more of an opportunity. And that's where you have to be ready to play.

"From everything I've seen, he's going to be a pretty good player. But that's the thing about being in a great program like Kentucky, next guy up. But, you want to get [Lowe] back, right? Coaches are greedy. Can't have enough players."

On the experimental value of an exhibition game ...

Painter: "That piece is something, you're just trying to get people in the game, I'm just trying to get people minutes. And it's hard, because if you go at 8 and 12, or you go in between.

"It wasn't as much matchups. I thought Daniel [Jacobsen] did some good things for us out there. I know Trey [Kaufman-Renn] and Braden have played a lot together. I thought [Gicarri Harris] did some good things.

"We have to do some better things on the defensive end, more than just who is playing with who.

"We're trying to win our league, we're trying to go to a Final Four, and this was just the first step. Sometimes, adversity can really help you, and hopefully it helps us."