The 6th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers were humbled by the Marquette Golden Eagles Tuesday night at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee by the score of 76-58. Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter, while disappointed with the outcome, believes this setback could serve as an epiphany for his crew and carry their prospects of a successful season to new heights.
Painter Credits Marquette’s Hustle And Toughness
In his post-game press conference, Painter’s first comments were all about giving credit where credit was due, namely in Marquette’s hustle and grit.
“You have to give them credit,” said Painter. “I thought they were great at swarming the basketball. Any time it got loose, they did a much better job of getting those 50/50 balls.”
Painter went on to compliment the Golden Eagles’ fortitude compared to his squad. “I just thought they were the tougher team.”
Turnovers factored in mightily to the Boilermakers’ woes. Said Painter: “At the end of the day, they didn’t turn the ball over, and we did.”
Tuesday was Purdue’s first road game, and Painter said it showed. “It’s different when you go on the road, you’ve got to have a little bit more mental toughness and we didn’t show that.”
The exploits of Marquette’s star guard Kam Jones, who recorded just the third triple-double in Marquette’s history, were not lost on Painter, either. Although he thought his team held Jones in check in early, he acknowledged it was not enough. “He made us pay. He had his way there the last five minutes of the game.”
The job Stevie Mitchell, Marquette’s defensive specialist, performed on Purdue guard Braden Smith impressed Painter.
“He (Mitchell) is a good defensive player. He’s guarded Braden a couple of times before, and Braden had success at our place and success when we played them in Hawaii,” referencing the most recent battle between the two teams in the 2023 championship game of the Maui Classic, a game won by Purdue, 78-75.
This game was different. “I thought he was very active, I thought he did a good job,” said Painter, who also realized it was not just Williams who created the havoc. “They switch some things, do different things, so it’s really all of them. When you look at Chase Ross and Kam (Jones) and (David) Joplin, it gets real interchangeable.”
About Smith’s performance, Painter was blunt. “Braden’s a good player, but he didn’t play well tonight. He’s got to do a better job, he’s got to be a little more aggressive shooting the basketball. He’s got to do a better job of setting the tone for us.”
How This Game Will Serve As A Positive Going Forward
Painter expressed that not all hope is lost just because of a defeat but recognized that lessons must be gleaned from this, saying, “Sometimes through success you can grow and sometimes through failure you have to grow.”
With their challenging non-conference slate, Painter, who is in his 20th year at the helm of Purdue basketball, hopes his squad can use that competition level as a springboard to their tough Big 10 schedule.
“For us, it’s (scheduling tough non-conference games) like wanting to be prepared for those games, and when you’re looking at your schedule and what you’re doing, you gotta get to that fight. Today, they really highlighted some of our shortcomings, and you can look at that like it’s a bad thing. But it’s also a good thing because drumming somebody by 30 at your place doesn’t bring that out.”
Painter continued on the importance of focusing on the task at hand: “Now when we look at these games, don’t say like, ‘Let’s get ready for Texas A&M, let’s get ready for Auburn.’ No, let’s get ready for Marshall.”
Marshall visits Mackey Arena to take on the Boilermakers on Saturday, November 23, and Painter and his guys will look to wash the Marquette taste out of their mouths.
