Purdue earned a 71-61 victory over North Carolina State in the first round of the Rady Children’s Invitational on Thursday and got big contributions from a number of different players. It was a big win for the Boilermakers, who are trying to bring another Feast Week title back to West Lafayette.
Trey Kaufman-Renn led the way with 22 points and eight rebounds and Cam Heide scored 15 points and collected six boards. Braden Smith added 11 points and six assists and Gicarri Harris came off the bench to give the Boilers eight points, four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.
With the win, Purdue improved to 6-1 on the year and advanced to play Ole Miss in the Rady Children’s Invitational Championship Game.
After the game, coach Matt Painter met with reporters to talk about the win. Here’s what he had to say.
On Purdue’s overall effort on the glass, chasing down loose balls…
Painter: “I thought in a few of our games so far we just haven’t been involved in the basketball. You have to be in the basketball. Sometimes we worry about that in transition so we get more than one guy back , but I thought our guys were faster in the basketball today. I thought we did some good things. We took care of the basketball, we rebounded the basketball and gave a good effort.
“In the first half, we got the ball where we wanted it, but we just didn’t finish very well. We wasted some deep post-ups, wasted some layups around the rim, was a little careless with the basketball. We thought that we had to keep executing, keep getting the ball where we needed it and good things would happen.”
On how Purdue turned good defense into solid offensive possessions…
Painter: “We talked about it: dealing with when they decided to press, dealing with their press and then going and trying to score. We had a few chances that we got close to the rim and one time we didn’t take it, the other time we just missed it. We got a three from one, a dunk from another. That’s what we wanted to be able to do.
“We are not a team that will force a lot of turnovers, but if we do, we have to capitalize.”
On Trey Kaufman-Renn’s stretch early in the second half…
Painter: “I just gave him the ball in the low post, but I also thought Braden did a great job of getting him the ball in that sweet spot with those pocket passes. It kind of held Braden back from getting as many assists like he normally does, but it was setting us up and putting us in position to get two-on-one or three-on-two and Trey just had to make a good decision: score or make the extra pass.
If Purdue plans to run more sets for Cam Heide…
Painter: “You can get him behind the play. They’ve switched up and done some different things, where sometimes that’s not going to work. They’ve tried to keep a two-on-two play in the ball screen, or they’ve gotten out of it , so you’re not going to be able to play behind some of those things. But we knew if we could get him out of the action and get Trey that basketball, Trey is in that two-on-one situation for a little bit, now you can a few get shots.
“We’ve done a few ATOs for him, and if he doesn’t get it, it’s always good if those four (position) can be on the ball side, then the other guy is used to messing with the post and you can get the ball to take.” from there in, give them a different look and let them play out.
“(Cam) is definitely a weapon in us going smaller. Now it gives us space. When you go small you have to make sure everyone can shoot the basketball and he really helps us in that regard. Sometimes he doesn’t. ” There’s no looking, but he allows Braden to manipulate the defense because of his distance.”
On freshman Gicarri Harris’ play…
Painter: “Don’t be hesitant, be aggressive. When he had his drive – I talked to our whole team about that, you can’t dribble against a team like this. You have to control the basketball. You have to go and create and score the basketball for yourself or put two on the basketball and let them get moving.
“I thought he did some really good things. Obviously he missed the two threes on possessions and he ended up getting a put-back layup, which was great. He just stayed in the play. But both shots he missed were really good shots for him. But he got the and-1 in the first half during the basketball. And then he just made some good plays defensively – just the details just needed to be a little bit better – but when it happened , he didn’t allow it happens again.
“If we hadn’t allowed them to score on off-court plays, some guys just fell asleep on off-court plays. I think they might have scored eight points, maybe even more. We need to do a better job in that area supply.”
On Purdue’s use of rotations…
Painter: “They started 7-2 and then we got to 9-9. What we were mainly trying to achieve is that you can’t look at the score and the runs, you can’t look at the score and the runs .You just have to look at the quality of the ball. Try to get them to not get angry if they make a good decision and just miss (a shot). Stay process-oriented and usually good things will happen.
“Sometimes it won’t happen, sometimes the ball won’t go in. But don’t worry. Don’t pretend that doesn’t work for us. It does work for us. I thought our guys did a good job.” I thought Braden did a really good job of staying with it and trusting what we were doing.”
As for what’s next for Purdue’s identity…
Painter: “We’ve always been able to try to change. Competition makes you change the way you do things. If you can stay the same and play the same way, that’s great because you’re just plugging guys in. Sometimes you guys don’t hook up.
“Right now, for us, we’ve been playing bigger with this group, and now we’ve gone to a smaller lineup and I think we have to be as sloppy with that adjustment as we were today. away from us, I don’t know if we win the game. Adjusting to (Zach Edey), probably the (biggest), obviously the ball went to him a lot, but the difference is we were able to miss blockout responsibilities and responsibilities. still gets rebounds because he would clean things up. He didn’t get any recognition for how dominant he was as a defensive player. The last few years he was a very good defensive player. He didn’t make mistakes, he stayed big, he switched shots, he blocked shots, he rebounded the basketball. His piece is missed both defensively and offensively.
“That’s been our adjustment, we’ve tried to adapt to that. But also to give those guys the feeling that they don’t have to be him, because they can’t be him. He’s a player who only plays once in the generation. We just have to play to the strengths of Trey Kaufman-Renn and the strengths of Cam Heide and whoever else fills those holes in our frontcourt.”
PURDUE-OLE MISS POINT SPREAD: Purdue’s tough non-conference schedule continues Friday when it faces No. 25 Ole Miss in the finals of the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego. Here’s the latest on the point spread, which is tight, and a good history against the number for both teams. CLICK HERE
HOW TO WATCH: Purdue will play Ole Miss in the Championship Game of the 2024 Rady Children’s Invitational. Here are key stats, key players, television and radio information and more. CLICK HERE
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