"Kinda learning to - let's be better at what we do," Matt Painter said about his team learning to respond to losses. " I think a lot of times when you lose - Why are you doing this? Why are you doing that? When, in reality, it's like - how about we have more physical boxouts? How about we don't throw it to the other teams?"


Purdue's ability to bounce back from losses is part of how Purdue made it to the national title game last season and recovered from a first round exit in the NCAA Tournament the year before. Purdue doesn't need wholesale changes because it lost one game. Instead, it needs to improve on the margins in a system that has proven to work.

Or as assistant coach Terry Johnson put it, "Just remember what you did well and stay there," Johnson said. "Do what you do, just do it better."


For Purdue that means rebound a little better, stick to your defensive principles, and let Purdue's offense ran by Braden Smith continue to hunt good looks. Those looks didn't fall against Ohio State, and in general, Smith looked to struggle after missing half the first half with foul trouble. He never really caught a rhythm in that game. Part of that was simply Bruce Thornton, one of the country's best and toughest point guards.


But against Michigan, Smith has to hunt his matchups, including attacking both Michigan's seven footers. Michigan has gotten a lot of mile of using its bigs to mismatch other teams. Smith, the nation's premier playmaker and pick and roll player, can be the antidote to Michigan's size by attacking them in the pick and roll and putting Michigan's defense in tough spots. Purdue's shots didn't fall on Tuesday, and teams are doing everything it can to limit perimeter looks against them.


Look for Smith to be aggressive, but also try to open up those shots to get back to Purdue's identity as one of the nation's best three-point shooting teams.