Breakdown: Purdue's win over Liberty

PDF: Purdue-Liberty stats

More: Analysis | Wrap Video | Stat Blast | Final Thoughts | Podcast

Matt Painter was asked after his team's impressive 77-64 win over Liberty Wednesday night whether freshman Zach Edey's play surprised him.

"No," Painter said. "Not at all."

That's because this Is what Purdue's coaches and players say they've in practice, ever since the day the 7-foot-4 freshman from Toronto showed up his summer, with just two seasons of meaningful basketball experience behind him.

What Purdue, its fans and a national TV audience saw in the season opener on Thanksgiving Eve was a player whose performance belied his experience level. Figuratively, Edey stood just as tall as a player Wednesday night as he literally stands.

The rookie scored a team-high 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting, towering over Liberty's frontcourt at times, or simply beating it to the ball other times, his two early dunks setting a tone for the Boilermakers' Opening Night victory. The Boilermakers will face either Clemson or Mississippi State on Thanksgiving Night — 8:30 p.m. ET — for the Space Coast Challenge title.

"He does good things when he gets the ball in positions where he's comfortable," Painter said. "I think that's the best way to put it."

Edey was comfortable a lot, then, starring on a night when preseason All-Big Ten big man Trevion Williams, never got in much of an offensive rhythm.

Edey played baseball and hockey much of his life prior to picking up basketball late in his high school career. His only hoops experience came in his two years at IMG Academy, where he didn't log big minutes on a star-studded prep school team, but was exposed to probably the most college-like environment the high school ranks have to offer.

"I was just ready to play," Edey said. "I don't really get too nervous usually. And especially with no fans, there wasn't really much to get nervous about. So I just came in, wanted to play like my experience throughout my development, like I was at IMG. I've played high-level (basketball) for a little bit now. That really helped me. I just came in ready to play basketball."

Teammates figured he would be.

"He played a hell of a game," classmate Jaden Ivey said. "He crashed the boards really well and played very physical and that's what we needed to get the win. I think he filled all the areas for us on the floor tonight."

More to come ...

This was an outstanding debut too for a pair of other newcomers.

Jaden Ivey scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting off the bench.

He's been thrown Into a bit of a challenging situation.

He was being fast-tracked to the floor at the 2, where his scoring punch was something Purdue was intent to feature this season.

When Hunter got hurt — and with classmate Ethan Morton sidelined by mono — Ivey was forced to point guard, altering his learning curve.

"This has been a process," Ivey said. "I played the 2 most of the summer to get to know that position. But now (Hunter's) out and I stepped over to the 1 position and I feel very comfortable doing it, and as time comes along, I'm going to be better and I'm going to learn the system better. This is going to take time but I feel comfortable playing the 1."

No matter the position, Ivey is going to be asked to look to score. Purdue needs that from him, and he's built for it, getting to the basket a few times against Liberty, but also knocking down mid-range jumpers and a three-pointer.

Newman, who started in his Purdue debut, he's known as a formidable three-point shooter.

But right out of the chute against the Flames, he took dribble handoffs, attacked the basket and scored on the move. He finished with 10.

"(Coaches) didn't tell me to be aggressive," Newman said, "but they were saying to make the right play. Those two lay-ups early, they were helping and the lane was wide open. I felt like that was the right read early."

Ivey and Newman were two of those five newcomers to debut against Liberty, a group that had some ups and downs, but significantly more ups and than downs.

"It was just the preparation during this past week," Newman said. "The fall, leading up to now, practice has been really good. We've really made some strides in the right direction as a collective group."

No one could have reasonably expected flawlessness Purdue, a team which often had four first-year players on the floor together.

And this win certainly wasn't without flaw.

Liberty hung around by making 11 threes, exposing Purdue's big men at times on the perimeter or benefiting from too much space being given by the Boilermaker guards and wings.

Eric Hunter, Purdue's best perimeter defender, is out for at least a few more weeks with a knee injury.

"That's a big hole, what we didn't have defensively," Painter said. "I think Eric would have really helped us on the perimeter. We had too many breakdowns on the defensive end."

Furthermore, Hunter's experienced presence may also have helped offensively, where Purdue committed 16 turnovers, "way too many" Painter said, particularly against a low-pressure defensive team. Ten of the Flames' points came off Boilermaker giveaways.

Inexperience obviously played a role.

"They're getting a lot of experience here and we just have to keep growing together," Painter said.

Purdue feels like It can be a much-Improved shooting team this season and It's off to a fine start.

The Boilermakers made 9-of-18 from three, and started the game 8-of-11.

Sasha Stefanovic was 3-of-5, including an important three late in the game after Liberty had drawn within six points. Stefanovic finished with nine points and five assists in a team-high 33 minutes.

And in a welcomed sight, junior Aaron Wheeler started strong, scoring 10 points, with five rebounds and four assists. After struggling to make shots last season, Wheeler was 2-of-3 from deep to open his junior season.

Purdue assistant coach Steve Lutz and graduate assistant coaches Grady Eifert and P.J. Thompson did not make the trip to Florida. ... Ethan Morton, after missing most of preseason practice with mono, played 10 minutes. He finished with two assists and two turnovers. ... Trevion Williams was only 3-of-7 from the floor for seven points, but did grab 11 rebounds and hand out five assists.

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast

Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2020. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.