Following the Purdue Boilermakers‘ resounding 81-61 victory in Minneapolis over the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Boilers’ head coach Matt Painter broke down the game in his post-game press conference, which you can see here:
One main theme from his words that came up more than once was his approval of how his team took care of the ball; Purdue committed a season-low three turnovers, well under their season average of 12 coming into the game. Here are some highlights from Painter’s comments:
On Caleb Furst and his insertion into the starting lineup:
Painter said: “We just felt like, the other night he really played well. We were a better team with him in the game. Then I thought it was the perfect matchup for us with him and (Dawson) Garcia and try to make it as hard as we can. With Garcia at 6-foot-9 and his size, we thought it made a whole lot of sense for (Furst) to be out there matching up with him.”
On C.J. Cox earning his first start of the season:
“Whether it’s getting him (Cox) going or getting Myles (Colvin) going or getting Gicarri (Harris) going, whoever it might be,” said Painter. “I didn’t think we played with enough purpose and toughness the other day against Toledo. Sometimes, when you play great teams like we’ve played in non-conference, sometimes those teams will steal your spirit.
“You’ve got to be able to keep competing, keep fighting and I just didn’t think we had that (against Toledo). And that has nothing to do with the two guys who didn’t start or the two guys that got the start. … That was just it. It was nothing more than that.
“We have to be able to go out there no matter who we start and compete and start games and sub in and be able to play with grit and be able to play with toughness. I thought that was better tonight.
“I think sometimes for guys, when the ball is not going in for them, it’s tough to do other things. But, I thought tonight those guys did other things. I thought CJ’s defense was great. (We’re) just trying to build in the best way we can.”
On feeling good about the first half, despite only leading by one:
Painter said, “We were getting shots and we only turned the ball over three times in the first half, and that was something we had talked about when we struggled. When we struggle, we normally turn the ball over. We’re getting some pretty good shots, we messed up some things around the rim. More than anything, just keep doing it.
“We gave up seven layups in the first half. Some of it was dribble penetration, some of it was simple breakdowns off of action that they did. We just had to try to clean things up. Two different times we didn’t do what we were supposed to do on out of bounds plays. Those are just things we’ve got to clean up and do a better job with it. I thought the second half we did.”
On what changed in the second half to allow Purdue to run away with the game:
“Obviously we got some good looks and executed, knocked down some shots,” Painter explained. “I thought at the start of the second half, we had three or four good looks that just didn’t go down from three. And then, obviously, we got some stops.
“It probably comes down to our ability to take care of the basketball. Sometimes you’re not getting the best shot in the world — even though in the second half, I thought we got really good shots — but you’re still getting shots. You’re giving yourself a chance to set your defense, you’re giving yourself a chance for the ball to go in, giving yourself a chance to offensive rebound. When you’re turning it over and you’re playing transition defense and you’re against it, you just make the game so hard for yourself.
“Tonight, with zero turnovers in the second half, that was huge.”
Going Forward: Three Big Ten Battles Over The Next Week
The 20th-ranked Purdue basketball team continues treading through their Big Ten opponents, and they will play three games over seven days, beginning on Sunday, January 5, when they welcome the Northwestern Wildcats to the cozy confines of Mackey Arena.
The Boilers then travel to New Jersey to battle Rutgers on Thursday, January 9, followed by another home game on Sunday, January 12, this time against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
