What Matt Painter Said Following Purdue's 69-58 Win Over Washington

Purdue had to scrap and claw, but it picked up a road win over Washington on Wednesday night. Here's what coach Matt Painter said after the victory.

Dustin Schutte | Jan 16, 2025

Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter leads a team huddle / Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Purdue Boilermakers

It wasn't pretty, but Purdue picked up an important road win on Wednesday night, defeating Washington 69-58. It was the sixth straight victory for the Boilermakers, who are now 6-1 in Big Ten play.

Purdue's veterans led the way, with Trey Kaufman-Renn scoring 19 points and Braden Smith ending the night with 17. Caleb Furst scored 15 points and Fletcher Loyer dropped in 12 in the victory.

After the game, Purdue coach Matt Painter spoke with the media about the win. Here's everything he had to say.

On what swung for Purdue in the second half ...

Painter: "I thought, more than anything, just being able to see the ball go in. I thought we made some good decisions in the first half and we just messed up some things around the rim. We had some careless turnovers, missed some shots. But I thought we did some good things, but only had 22 points to show for it.

"Defensively, I didn't think it was that bad in the first half — holding somebody to 30 points on their home court. But we needed to be able to get some stops and, like I said, just see the ball go in.

"We did the same thing, we went right to Trey (Kaufman-Renn) in the first half and got a basket, went right to him at the beginning of the second half. We just tried to play off of that, play off of Braden (Smith). But we had to get stops. I thought our hands were really active, we got a lot of steals."

On if there's a trend with Purdue playing better in the second half on the road ...

Painter: "Yeah, there's a trend. We're not scoring in the first half and we're scoring in the second the half. But the why of it, from a coaching standpoint, having seven turnovers at half is what you have to look at. Going 0-of-6 from three, I didn't think we took bad threes, we just didn't make any. That kind of messes with your confidence a little bit when shots don't go down. Then you've got some turnovers, you split or miss your free throws.

"Going in at half is just trying to be better at what we do. Just trying to get them to understand that they did some good things, they just don't have a lot to show for it. Cut down on your turnovers, clean up a few things defensively and then (Washington) got 15 points from three from a guy who doesn't usually shoot threes or make threes, and we were still in a good position."

On the defensive contributions of Caleb Furst ...

Painter: "Caleb was great. I thought he was very active there. We knew what we were getting into when they were trying to roll into the post or had some isos over there on the wing. Just having active hands.

"He really helps us because he can switch ball screens for us, but he also can guard people of size. That luxury there really helps us. But I thought he did some great things. He made his free throws at the end. Was around the ball, more than anything, offensively and defensively."

On Caleb Furst being more aggressive offensively ...

Painter: "They were aggressive in the first half with ball screens. You can benefit from dragging them out, because now you have a lot of space, but then you have to get the ball out of your hands. When you get the ball out of your hands, you've got to be able to make a play at that point and get the ball to the other side. We just didn't do a good enough job of getting it back. We had a couple turnovers that way, we had three or four other possessions where it just didn't help us.

"They weren't as aggressive in the second half, we were prepared for it, going to do a couple things a little bit different. Now the fives and fours are going to see the basketball in that spot. When they push us out like that, we're going to get the ball at the nail and they have to make good decisions. I thought they made good decisions, but also, Trey made a couple of those shots. Then, Caleb was able to finish around the rim and it really helped us."

On Trey Kaufman-Renn potentially being used as a decoy at times ...

Painter: "Sometimes it happens organically and sometimes we're trying to do it. So, I think it's important for us to take what they give us. If we're 1-on-1 in there and he's got his guy and can get to the middle of the floor — he does a good job of spinning back when they take the middle of the floor away.

"If they're going to come in there, collapse on him, be able to get those kick-out, step-in threes, those are the ones you want. Those are the easy ones to hit."

On Trey Kaufman-Renn and Caleb Furst making free throws later in the game ...

Painter: "Yeah, you know, you want to be aggressive. Anytime you're down or anytime you're on the road or you have the combination of both, you want to get the ball to the rim. If you're driving it, posting it, getting it in transition, or you're getting it on the glass. I think it's really, really important that we live in the paint.

"On the defensive side of things, we want to keep them out of the paint. When you have the basketball there, you've got to get it. You've got to get two or three points by making a good decision. If they're going to foul you, then you've got to make them pay."

On Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer making plays late in the game ...

Painter: "Fletch, we sub him in and he makes that play off the out-of-bounds-play, then he makes a three, then he makes another one a couple of minutes later. Braden had a couple of those turnovers late. If he just would have been on two feet he would have made those plays.

"Going down the stretch like that, they've been in those moments before — making shots, making plays, making the right reads. You feel confident having the ball in their hands.

On how Purdue has been able to force so many turnovers recently ...

Painter: "I just think the activity, our hands, just being active, understanding what we're doing, what we're trying to do. Whether that's ball screens or whether that's post-ups or drives. Just trying to keep the ball out of the middle as much as we can.

"It's not 100%, it's not fool-proof, it's not magic. I would say the magic is in the players and their activity. That's who deserves the credit. It's our guys' attention to detail and just kind of recognizing when guys are up against it and they're making tough passes.

"Anytime you can get those deflections, get those steals, now you want to get those rebounds."

On Purdue being better at communicating on the floor ...

Painter: "We're better, but we still had two or three plays in the last four or five minutes, if we just would have communicated on drives and switches and different things and been ready, we would have been better. So, you've got to do your work early. You have to use your voice as much as you can to be able to paint that picture for the guy who's on the ball."

On what he thinks about Oregon ...

Painter: "I haven't watched them, to be frank with you. I've seen them in highlights and I've seen them a couple times with common opponents, but we haven't had a lot of common opponents with them. I've watched them maybe one time on film, and then I've watched a lot of highlights.

"But if you just look at their schedule and their record and all the people they've played and beat, it speaks for itself. If the tournament was right now, they'd be a two or a three seed. (Dana Altman) is a fabulous coach. Very familiar with him being from Creighton 20 years ago when I was at Southern Illinois.

"Just a really, really good coach. They have good players. Great team. We're going to have to be better than we were tonight."