My Two Cents: For Purdue's Shooters, Making Shots in Massive Dome Quick Learning Experience

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Dropping a 94-foot basketball court in the middle of a massive football stadium is a Final Four tradition. There's one storyline right there, practically year after year. And it's no different when the ball gets tossed on Saturday at State Farm Stadium, home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals.

And for all the talk of 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey leading Purdue to the promised land — their first Final Four in 44 years — it's the perimeter players who play a huge role on this team, too. The Boilermakers are much better this year — and having much more success — because they are the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the country coming into the tournament. Last year they were No. 291.

Typically, shooting numbers drop in the Final Four games because the sightlines are so different in a cavernous 65,000-seat stadium rather than a nice, cozy 14,000-seat arena back.

So that's a challenge for Purdue when they take on NC State a little after 6 p.m. ET on Saturday. Their shooters need to be comfortable, and they need to have success.

They've planned accordingly.

"There were conversations (about the size of the arena) before we got here,'' said Purdue forward Mason Gillis, who's shooting 47.5 percent from three this season. "A couple of us had been to Final Four games and a couple of us hadn't, so we all have a different perspective on the court and how the atmosphere is going to be. (Thursday) we were able to practice on the court and shoot a little bit and we all kind of said it was better than we thought it would be.

"So that was a positive thing, and I think today we'll really be able to shoot (in the Friday open practice). Ultimately it's the same goal, same height, same distance. You just have to get over how big it is because ultimately it's the same thing.''

Purdue is shooting 40.6 percent from three, and it's a big part of their game along with Edey, the two-time national player of the year. Opposing defenses have to pick their poison, and it's never an easy choice when the Boilers are making shots.

They made 9-of-20 threes — 45 percent — in a regional semifinal win over Gonzaga, but then went just 3-for-15 against Tennessee. They won anyway, 72-66.

"Well, what I said after the Gonzaga game is after we made a lot of shots, who are we if we
miss those shots? Can we still grind that game out and beat Gonzaga?'' Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "It's very hypothetical, but then the next night (against Tennessee) that happened. What saved us was our dominance on the glass, Zach's dominance inside. They wanted to limit our threes, and they did. We were 3-for-15, even though Lance (Jones) made a big one there at the end of the
game.

"I think that's the balance that we search. We search Zach getting the basketball, (point guard) Braden Smith playing through ball-screen action, but having that balance of getting to nine, 10, 11, 12 threes to go along with Zach posting up and scoring the basketball. If you don't get it, how are you going to offset that? think we offset that through getting some key stops late in the game and also getting a lot of offensive rebounds.''

Purdue is an excellent offensive rebounding team, which is saying something considering how well they shoot the ball. There aren't all that many misses, but they still keep 12.3 boards a game on the offensive end.

Missed shots are typically not a problem for the Boilers. They are 33-4 on the year, and all four losses came when they turned the ball over 14 times are more. They are 27-0 with 13 turnovers or less, and just 6-4 when they don't. That's the barometer, not the perimeter shooting.

"I think we're a great offensive rebounding team, so our problem is if we turn the ball over. I don't think our problem is if we miss shots as much. We're obviously not trying to miss shots, right?'' Painter said
"Turnovers, that's where we've gotten into our issues. I think we're 27-0 with 13 turnovers or less. I think we're 6-4 with 14 to 17 turnovers. 17 is the most we've gotten this year. When we get into there, we can still win those games. When we've had 13 turnovers or less, even when we struggle shooting the basketball, we've been successful. They're a little bit tighter, more of a grinder-type game, but
we've been successful there.''

Sophomore guard Fletcher Loyer, a 44.1 percent three-point shooter. this season, said the environment in Arizona simply is was it is.

"It's a big stage, but it's exactly where you want to be, right?'' Loyer said. "We'll get a bunch of shots up (Friday), and when the games starts, it's still just basketball. We play in a lot of different gyms all year. This is big, but it still just comes to knocking down shots. We'll be ready.''

This run has been a blast so far, Loyer said. He pointed out two specific memories.

"I have two. I'd say hearing that buzzer against Tennessee, knowing all the work we put in, we got to the Final Four. One of our goals at the start of the year, something we worked really hard to do,'' Loyer said. "Obviously we didn't get to do it last year. So that, and then coming home off the airplane in West Lafayette, seeing all those fans there on a Sunday night means a lot to us. We know us playing hard and us winning games, they like that. They cheer us on, support us, win or loss. Kind of putting on a show for them and them welcoming us when we got back.''

Loyer and his teammates are hoping for more great memories this weekend.