Breakdown: Purdue's Fan Day scrimmages

Saturday afternoon in Mackey Arena, Purdue held its annual fan day event, with the men's team playing a trio of 10-minute split-squad scrimmages in front of a few thousand fans.

Here are five things that really stood out.

Of note: Redshirt freshman Brian Waddell and freshman Will Berg sat out due to injuries. Also, Purdue worked primarily in zone on defense, for the sake of practicing against it, not playing it.

A few times, Caleb Furst — now Purdue's backup center — could be seen chuckling after being on the wrong end of a Zach Edey hook shot or dunk.

"Obviously he's a monster," Furst said. "Not just with his size but with how skilled he is, too, and the way he moves. It's a challenge. Sometimes at the end of the day, you're like, 'Man, I suck.' But you have to realize that you're going against a preseason All-American, 7-4, 300 pounds."

Over three scrimmages, Edey totaled a team-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Notably, he was 7-of-7 at the foul line, after taking a step back last season from his freshman year, shooting just under 65 percent.

"I'm just a lot more confident at the line," Edey said. "I put up a lot of shots In the off-season and need to keep working on it, keep getting more shots. I changed little things, like last year I always dribbled twice, and this year I'm just dribbling once. Just little things to help me resent mentally at the line. I felt like last year was an outlier, not my normal. I'm trying to get back to my normal."

Back to Furst, and Trey Kaufman-Renn: For as difficult as their matchups are with the mammoth, Edey, they're also testing Edey with their ability on the perimeter.

During the third scrimmage, Furst and freshman guard Fletcher Loyer found a nice connection running pick-and-roll-type action against Edey. Loyer scored all 14 of his points on the day during that session, while Furst scored four of his total of nine.

Brandon Newman — facing the opportunity of his career this season — played better than his scoring numbers. He finished with nine points over three scrimmages, but also totaled a near-team-high six assists, second to only Ethan Morton's seven.

Newman scored on a few pullups and made a number of excellent passes attacking off closeouts or angles, generating easy baskets for teammates.

That sort of offensive poise and decision-making is precisely what Purdue's hoping to see from the upperclassman this season.

Braden Smith's and Fletcher Loyer's productivity was one thing.

Both certainly had their moments on Saturday.

But their approach — the way they carry themselves — is another, and that can't possibly be a bad thing for Purdue as it lives through youth in its backcourt this season.

The two rookies' confidence is obvious.

"More than anything, they believe in themselves," Coach Matt Painter said. "They've put a lot of time into their game."

Edey joked that he's "almost envious" of the confidence Loyer has played with since arriving at Purdue. Smith drew a modest rise out of the crowd Saturday when he badgered veteran Mason Gillis trying to take the ball from him after Gillis grabbed a rebound.

"Our team already has a lot of confidence," Edey said, "but It's good we don't have to teach them that. We don't have to teach them from Day 1 to play with confidence or build up their confidence."

Purdue recorded 29 assists on 34 field goals, looking the part of a savvy and unselfish offensive team. Five players recorded three assists or more.

But, the turnover Issue the Boilermakers badly need to reverse from last season showed up now and again on Saturday. There were 19 turnovers, five and four, respectively, from primary ball-handlers Smith and Ethan Morton and four from Edey out of the post.

• Freshman Camden Heide looked good, making a three, making a runner off a closeout and grabbing some physical, high-point rebounds. Considering he missed a week of practice just now, his showing was notable.

• Purdue was 6-of-35 from three-point range, but that's not the first time Purdue has shot really poorly on this occasion. They generated a lot of good looks.

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