Takeaways—Purdues win over Queens

ST. LOUIS — Purdue rolled into the second round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night with a 104–71 win over Queens at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

Our GoldandBlack.com post-game analysis from the win …

PDF: Purdue-Queens statistics

Subscribe to GoldandBlack.com’s YouTube channel

ON SENIORS MEETING THE MOMENT … AGAIN

Purdue’s seniors keep on keeping on.

Following their outstanding play in Purdue’s four-game Big Ten Tournament run, Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Fletcher Loyer and Oscar Cluff were all outstanding again in Purdue’s NCAA Tournament opener against Queens.

All of them were exceptional.

This could not be playing out much better for Purdue in terms of its veterans elevating themselves at exactly the moment their team needs them most.

Purdue didn’t consistently get this level of play during the regular season, but it’s arriving now—and that’s what matters.

There are still bigger challenges ahead this month, but Purdue’s veterans have emphatically answered the call. These are players who have talked openly all season about Final Fours and national championships, even at times when that ambition felt aspirational.

As things stand now, Purdue looks like a team that has made those goals realistic again—and it’s primarily because of its seniors.

ON BRADEN SMITH

Today was the day Braden Smith was coronated—not just as one of Purdue’s all-time greats, or one of the Big Ten’s all-time greats, but one of the sport’s all-time greats.

The Boilermakers’ senior point guard is a special player with special abilities—traits you are either born with or you are not, more than anything.

Hard work is not always rewarded in sports, but Smith is one of those cases where it has been. He has maximized his uncommon gifts through sheer effort, discipline, and will.

He has elevated Purdue’s program in a meaningful way, and he shares these accomplishments with the teammates around him. Zach Edey may not have become the dominant force he was for two straight seasons without Smith. Fletcher Loyer may not be Purdue’s all-time leader in three-pointers without him. Trey Kaufman-Renn may not have developed into an All-American-level player over the past two years without Smith.

But it cuts both ways. Smith would not have this record without those players, either. And he certainly would not have it without winning.

That Big Ten Tournament run—when he piled up more than 40 assists—put him in position to claim the record. But the more important outcome was Purdue winning a championship.

Smith should hold this record for a long, long time, because how many times from here on out is a player gonna have the ball put in his hands from Day 1 and stay at that place four years with the ball in his hands the way Braden Smith has?

There are some things about this Purdue team right now that you may never see again in college basketball, one of which is Smith and Fletcher Loyer starting every game of their Purdue career side-by-side over a four-year span. That will never happen again, at least not at a level like Purdue’s.

DEFENDING THE RIM

Things always change at this stage of a tournament, when a Big Ten team, for example, gets away from other Big Ten teams.

Friday night against Queens, you saw Purdue’s shot-blocking element return at the center position after it had kind of gone away for a while during the Big Ten regular season, as teams scouted thoroughly and figured out how to attack Oscar Cluff and Daniel Jacobsen.

Queens was so intent on attacking the basket from all positions with its small-ball style that Purdue closed the first half with four guards and a center on the floor just to match up defensively. But it was that center who was the real problem for the Royals. Cluff and Jacobsen combined to block six shots, and that might have been the most important element of Purdue’s defensive effort.

Should Purdue be beating its chest over overwhelming an undersized, low-major team around the basket? No, it should not.

But it is a sign of a good, connected and aware team to make sure it is leveraging its advantages in any way it can.

DOING WHAT IT NEEDS TO DO

Purdue is playing really well. But it is also quieting some real pressure points by taking care of the areas that have to be locked down for it to be the best version of itself.

For all the recent emphasis on Braden Smith’s assists, it has been overlooked that he is also doing a pretty damn good job taking care of the basketball.

Purdue committed only three turnovers in the first half. It finished with 12, but that was largely the result of late-game casualness.

During the portion of the game when the outcome was decided, Purdue did a really good job not beating itself against a team that wanted to pressure it and force turnovers. Success in those situations is a direct reflection of the point guard and the players who handle the ball the most.

Smith has been setting a strong tone for Purdue in minimizing turnovers, and Trey Kaufman-Renn not having a turnover in this game was significant as well.

Purdue is playing really well defensively right now, and it is not a coincidence that it is defending at a high level while also taking care of the basketball.

ON THREE-POINT SHOOTING

Purdue is snowing people under lately with three-pointers, and there are no guarantees that is going to continue. The three-point shot is extremely fickle, especially this time of year, when it can get you beat or it can beat somebody it shouldn’t.

Fletcher Loyer is on a tear. Braden Smith‘s jumper is clearly straightened and the surrounding ensemble is still dangerous.

But something to note here is that even if Purdue doesn’t shoot great, the other parts of the game that need to be in place to overcome that are very much in place right now—given the way Purdue is taking care of the basketball, given the way it is defending, given the way it is rebounding, and given the fact that its interior-scoring assets are humming right now.