What Matt Painter Said After Purdue's 76-66 Win Over UCLA

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue picked up a big win on Friday night at Mackey Arena, defeating UCLA 76-66. The Boilers ended their four-game losing streak and now carry some momentum into the final two games of the regular season.

Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 29 points and Braden Smith added 23, helping the Boilers pick up a huge win. Fletcher Loyer added 11 points and Cam Heide came off the bench to grab a team-high nine rebounds.

Additionally, Braden Smith became the program's all-time leading assist man, passing Bruce Parkinson for the top spot on the list.

Following the win, Matt Painter spoke with reporters about the game. Here's what he had to say.

On what Painter emphasized after a four-game losing streak ...

Painter: "I thought they played really hard for the entire game. We haven't had bad first halves in that four-game losing streak. We've had bad second halves, we've had a couple really bad starts to the second half, then, obviously, we haven't had great finishes to the second half.

"It's been a little deceiving for us because you come into halftime and we're not down 12. You're not down nine. You go into half and you're up 12 or you're up or one or down two, whatever it might be in those four games. We just haven't gotten that start (to the second half). That's what we wanted to do a better job.

"I thought we took care of the basketball the whole night, we just didn't embrace the physicality on the glass. We got manhandled in the first half when shots went up. I thought Cam (Heide) really gave us a spark in the second half defensive rebounding. We've had success in transition pushing the basketball, but if you can't rebound the basketball, you're not going to get into transition.

"I thought our activity on defense was good in the first half — we forced them into eight turnovers in the first 10 or 11 minutes and then they settled into the game. They settled into that and did a better job taking it over, then in the second half we settled into it and did a better job rebounding.

"It's not as bad as it seems, it's never as good as it seems. I thought our guys played hard and competed. Tough game. (They're) well coached, (Mick Cronin) is a really good coach, they're really physical and they put you in binds. They make it difficult. So, I thought this was a great win for us and hopefully a confidence booster to get on a winning streak instead of a losing streak."

On Purdue's improved rebounding in the second half ...

Painter: "I thought we were more active. Getting some of those offensive rebounds were more chase-down type rebounds, kind of like Braden's steals. Just being aware, coming on somebody's blind side when they don't see you. It was huge. We would have been in a much better position at halftime if we could rebound. It's just something we have to keep working on. We have to be quick to the basketball.

"Sometimes it's positioning. We knew we were going to be up against it with switching. We were not going to let (Eric) Daily (Jr.) and (Tyler) Bilodeau pop and just get open shots. But, with that, there's a down side to it. You've got to be physical, knock them out of the post, you've got to go with your low man and you have to have discipline with it. A couple times we just, forever reason, got behind them. You've got to make them throw it over the top, then your low man has to get that steal for you. But you also have to put pressure on the ball, so those three people have to stay connected. Keep pressure on the ball, knock out the post and then play. But if they're going to skip it and go, you've got to get out of it and then be able to break their rhythm so they don't shoot, then everyone has to sprint to help.

"We knew if shots go up and we're in front of them, we're not in great rebound position. That wasn't the backbone of everything — why we didn't get rebounds — I just thought they were quicker. Whether it was (Lazar) Stefanovic or any of their guys. I thought they were quicker to the ball in the first half and, obviously, I thought we did a much better job in the second half.

On Purdue's scrap in the final 10 minutes of the game ...

Painter: "It's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to get into tight games right there and enjoy it. Embrace the toughness of the game. Embrace that. Keep doing your job and keep playing. The thing that has really held us back more than anything has been when we turn it over and we don't do our job defensively. I'm not talking about containing the dribble or things of that nature.

"When we do our job, we're way more successful. Any coach will tell you that, because you disconnect what you're doing. It's not actually one play, it's more than one play that leads to it.

"It's like missing class or something. After you miss it one time, boy, it's a lot easier to miss it again. Then it's a lot easier to miss it that third time and it just keeps growing. All of the sudden, you have a lot of misses and you get fired from your job.

"More than anything, it can build the other way. When you keep doing your job and they keep making tough shots, live with it. Understand you've got to live with some of those tough shots. You can't put people at the free throw line, you can't allow layups. That, for us, is what we have to hang our hat on. We have to hang our hat on doing our job, embracing the toughness and physicality of the game and just keep making plays and having fun with it. Because when you have fun with it, you're going to be more loose on the offensive end, you're going to shoot better."

On how important it was for players to come together on their own ...

Painter: "It was huge, just building confidence. Feeling good about yourself. Nobody likes to lose, we have competitive guys on our team. They've had a lot of success, so this is the first time anybody has had (a four game losing streak) that's playing on our team.

"I don't care who you are as a coach, I don't care who you are as a player, you have self-doubt. When you lose games, now you start to look into it, but you've got to stick to what you're doing. If you stick to what you're doing and you stay connected and you fight, you're going to grow and you're going to get out of some things. So, hopefully we can build and just get better. You've got to relearn some things.

"I think this will help us — I know it will help us, it will help our confidence. This was not easy. This was a great win, guys had to make plays, guys had to make tough plays, make huge shots. That's a really good team. That's a team that could go far in the NCAA Tournament."

On the growth of Trey Kaufman-Renn as a leader ...

Painter: "It's no different than meeting with a therapist or counselor — you can't interfere, you have to trust your leaders. When you interfere, it doesn't allow it to be whole and then you're not going to get anywhere with that, you're not going to make improvements.

"When you call meetings and you do things as an individual, you've got to own your stuff to start with. Once you own your stuff, now you can grow. Now it's easy to speak. I always say as a coach, I've got to fix my shit before we fix yours. That's just what it is.

"If you take ownership as a player because the coach takes ownership, now you're going to grow, now you're going to get better. Watch film, be honest. But when you have meetings like that, those are better.

"We've grown into a handful of times of having player-led teams. Sometimes they look at that as a weakness of a coach, it's actually a strength of a coach, because you're empowering your players. But you can't empower people who don't do what they're suppose to. You have to empower people who put their foot forward, who own their stuff, they get better, they want to help Purdue win.

"We had a couple guys play the whole game tonight. They normally do it anyway, but they played and they were functional and battled through fatigue and battled locking horns with those guys. That's a good team. Like, if a football game broke out, we're not winning that game. But there's no reason we should fumble, right? Shouldn't get interceptions. Take care of it. Learn to play and play to your strengths. When you do those things and you have nine turnovers, you're giving yourself a chance. And sure, you struggled on the glass, but you give yourself a chance. We do that and we have nine turnovers, so we're in that ballpark we're pretty successful."

On Braden Smith setting the all-time assist record ...

Painter: "First of all, congratulations to Bruce Parkinson. Anytime you can be at a great basketball school like Purdue and hold an award that long — no different than Joe Barry Carroll last year and Rick Mount last year when Zach Edey broke those records —make sure you give that due to the people that came before you. Bruce Parkinson was a great player here and a very successful player.

"To hold honors or records or anything that long is pretty cool, because records are made to be broken. But for someone to do it in their junior year is pretty cool.

"He's got a knack, he works hard, he's a good player. A lot of times, people want to give you credit, but like, he walked in here passing. He's got a feel and he's got a read, comes from a basketball family. Just happy for him. You go through this and you're one of the leaders and you're one of the best players in the country, you take it personal. It's hard. Most people don't understand that.

"The people that get the most shit are the best players. Look at the NBA. You have all those guys who are great, all they want to do is compare each other. Who cares? Just win the game. They're all great. They're all great. Give them all their flowers. But there's always that comparison.

"But for him, he's stayed with it. Fletcher (Loyer), Trey Kaufman, they've stayed with it. That's what we need. We need those guys at the front of the battle, fighting people and doing the right things and just helping Purdue win, just like they have all season."

On Purdue having to play against bigger guys ...

Painter: "I think it's totally ridiculous. Obviously, you know the other scope of it, no different than a prosecuting attorney and a defense attorney. Some of the best defense attorneys started off prosecutors for seven or eight years. They understand the other side.

"So like, with (Aday) Mara, we spent a lot of time with Mara — both how to attack him and how to defend him. I know it didn't look like it there at the end, but they're not going to beat us with twos at the end when you're up 12 points. We were just making sure they weren't going to get threes, so we played him one-on-one. Then, if they wanted to get those and they shoot free throws, so be it.

"It's a little different. Our guy is really efficient in how he plays, but then he's not that as a defender or a rebounder. I thought he did some really good things tonight defensively, but it's hard for him when he's got to carry the load like that and play 40 minutes. But, it seems to not bother him when he has the ball in scoring position. Guys who can score are never fatigued when they have the ball in their hands. He's a fabulous player.

"Going against Mara is a little surreal. But I prefer those guys be on our team."

On his demeanor on the sideline during games ...

Painter: "It's a choice, yes, I'm not always stoic. When I first started, I just jumped over the fight too much, I was too emotional. That's why I changed it to football. Sasha (Stefanovic) has out of bounds plays, PJ (Thompson) has offense, we split the scouts between Terry (Johnson) and Paul (Lusk), (Brandon Brantley) always handles personnel, because I want everything to be clear. I want everyone knowing what they're supposed to do. I don't want that back-and-forth with four different opinions from four different people.

Let's set our standard, let's set how we're doing things, but let's work on things. When we get into June and July, we practice. It's the most important thing. If you're a good player, you're going to work on your game because that's how you got here, but you need to know what's going on. You need to know those types of things. At the end of the day, we're always like, 'Hey, let's do our job.' We started in June, we worked in July, we got back to school in August. First day of school in August we practiced for two hours. They give you four hours. That's a lot of time. We practiced twice per week for two hours until we could have regular practice.

"I just want them to do know what they're doing, more than anything, so I don't need to go back to things. You know what you're doing, you're an intelligent person. You got admitted into Purdue. You know your job, do your job and have fun with it.

"I know this — when I'm stressed out and I get worked up and I do things, they're stressed out. I want them to have fun, I want them to play. I want them to be on edge. So, sometimes you have to be able to get them and flip them, but that's really my personality. it's not always my competitive personality, but it's really my personality.

"If you just dive into being yourself, the authenticity of it really helps. That's what you really want them to do. As people, just be yourself, it's OK. Don't worry about anything, as long as you're not doing stupid shit. Be yourself. I think that really helps them grow and empowers them."

On if overcoming similar issues can help a team's mental toughness ...

Painter: "No question. We haven't played well in the second half. We've also played good teams. Some of it was self-inflicted, some of it was other teams playing well. Probably a combination of both.

"Anytime you get back somewhere where you had success, then you had struggles and now you have success again, it's good. You can't worry about everything, you just simply can't. But you've got to worry about yourself. Embrace those tough moments, because that's what makes you special."

On Cam Heide getting nine rebounds ...

Painter: "Yeah, I thought he had three opportunities in the first half to make similar plays that he made in the second half and he didn't. A couple weak-side (steals), a couple rebounds, got his hand on one basketball. We talked to him about those things. We talked to him this week that you've got to be able to embrace that physicality, especially in work downhill and go rebound and get possessions for us. We didn't just say it to him, we said it to everybody.

"I thought he was great, I thought he was great. It was one of those things that, kind of like Myles (Colvin) at Indiana, made more sense for him to be on the floor. Made more sense for Cam to be on the floor. I think that's the ultimate compliment when you come off the bench, when you force the coach to play you. We were better with him in there. I thought he did a really good job of giving us a spark."