Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter on Marshall win, shuffling lineup
Purdue defeated Marshall 80-45 on Saturday. Heat what Matt Painter said after the victory.
- Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 18 and Camden Heide and Myles Colvin combined for 26.
- Braden Smith went scoreless for the second time in his career and first since his freshman season.
- Thursday’s game: Purdue vs. N.C. State in Rady Children’s Invitational, 3 p.m., FS1
WEST LAFAYETTE – This was not the first Purdue basketball team to slog its way to a comfortable win from a noon Saturday tipoff.
The Boilermakers looked like a good team working its way through some issues in an 80-45 victory over Marshall. Which, of course, is probably how they would describe themselves right now.
Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 18 points and drew seven fouls. Camden Heide and Myles Colvin combined for 26 points in their first career starts.
Overreactions from Purdue’s final warm-up before the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego next week.
This small-ball starting lineup is only one Matt Painter can trust right now
The opening minutes showed the offensive upside of playing Kaufman-Renn at the 5 and Heide at the 4. Crisp ball movement led to open looks off screens and by working from inside out, where Kaufman-Renn’s passing and instincts can shine.
Painter has been hesitant to commit to that lineup for fear of what he might lose defensively and in rebounding. For the former, this wasn’t the opponent who could exploit that potential mismatch. For the latter, he began to feel he had nothing to lose because rebounding has been an issue with every alignment.
“It allows us to be more functional offensively,” Painter said. “I’ve yet to see a lineup that’s that good from a rebounding standpoint. If you played bigger, you should rebound better, right? In theory?
“And when you don’t, if you’re going to struggle to rebound, now let’s be more efficient in other areas.”
Marshall finished with 14 offensive rebounds. That was facilitated in part by its horrendous 3-point shooting (4-of-32) — which was also the reason it could not better capitalize on those extra possessions. On an afternoon with some weird caroms, Purdue needs more people battling for the ball.
After two seasons thriving on maximum size in the form of Zach Edey, this team always needed to come up with a distinct identity. That would have been true even if Daniel Jacobsen had not so quickly experienced his injury misfortune.
Kaufman-Renn has lobbied for the small-ball lineup. He admitted Saturday’s performance did not exemplify its potential. Yet he remains convinced of its upside — assuming Purdue thrives offensively with the extra spacing and gets enough rebounding from its wings.
Purdue’s Myles Colvin, Cam Heide, Trey Kaufman-Renn Marshall postgame
Hear what Purdue’s players said after the Boilermakers defeated Marshall 80-45 Saturday.
Myles Colvin’s all-around ascent reached a new stage
Painter could have played anyone at the third guard spot to balance against Heide and Kaufman-Renn in the frontcourt. Gicarri Harris started the first five games. C.J. Cox keeps playing highly competitive minutes.
He went with Colvin, though, and it reflects the sophomore’s steadily growing profile. In the past two games, he displayed his value without scoring. Those were the same qualities which had him on the floor at the end of victories as well.
At some point, it might have become fair to ask whether the rebounding and defensive contributions came at the expense of his scoring. He answered Saturday, feeding off the nerves of his first start to score seven quick points and finish with 13.
Braden Smith never needs to make another basket
Alright, went a little too far with that one. The point guard’s scoring mindset remains crucial. He needs to carry gravity within the offense and be a high-volume scorer in big matchups. He needs to draw fouls from other top guards and be a late-shot clock heartbreaker.
He went 0-for-4 Saturday, though, yet still almost led the team in plus-minus. (He was one point behind Harris’ +29.) Nine assists and three steals helped him get there.
Purdue can’t beat the best teams on its schedule when Smith goes scoreless. It won’t win in many visiting Big Ten arenas if that happens again.
Yet this was only his second such game, and the first since a 19-point win against Minnesota from his freshman year. He’s shooting 31.3% over his past three games — a trend, technically, but under the circumstances not yet a concerning one.
