Breakdown: Purdue's win over Bellarmine
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There was a stretch during the second half of Purdue's season-opening 96-67 rout of visiting Bellarmine where Sasha Stefanovic and Brandon Newman seemed to simply be taking turns splashing three-pointers, the two Region products almost trying to one up another.
This came after Isaiah Thompson's first-half eruption, in which he drained four of his five threes on the night.
For as much as the seventh-ranked Boilermakers entered play on Tuesday wringing their hands over defensive struggles, they entered this season eager to unlock potential unfulfilled last season shooting from distance.
So far, so good, as was made clear in front of a full Mackey Arena crowd against the Knights.
Purdue was 16-of-36 from beyond the arc against Bellarmine, that flame-throwing helping it open up a decent lead before centerpiece big men Zach Edey and Trevion Williams had even attempted a shot.
"We had a game plan where if they were going to over-help on the weak side (against the post), we were going to work on the skip passes and screening our own man," Stefanovic said after scoring a game-high 23 points. "We did a great job executing our game plan and made a lot of good passes that led to good shots."
That's what stood out about Purdue's offensive showing — one of the many things, actually — how the Boilermakers shared the ball, made sound offensive plays and found one another, at times trading in good shots for great ones.
But also, Purdue's eagerness to create for each other was best exemplified by Trevion Williams. He was limited to less than 15 minutes after picking up a couple of early fouls, but in that time he got, the returning All-American took just one shot, but looked plenty content to draw double teams and kneecap Bellarmine's defense with his passing.
"I thought our guys made good decisions," Painter said. "I thought they moved the basketball, and it was great to see those guys step up and make shots."
With Bellarmine over-playing the post, neither center took a shot until more than 13 minutes had passed.
But that's when Edey got loose, scoring seven straight for Purdue that pushed the Boilermakers' first-half lead to 17 on its way to as many as many as 36 after halftime.
Edey finished with 16 points — on just five shots — and nine rebounds.
"I just got in the flow of the game," Edey said.. "I was a little shaky at first, dropping some balls I shouldn't drop, going up for rebounds with one hand when I should have been going up with two, stronger. It was just getting in the flow of the game, doing what I'm supposed to do and trying to get the ball as much as possible."
Brandon Newman added 14 points for Purdue.
WHAT HAPPENED
It was Isaiah Thompson who really got Purdue off on the right foot.
Less than three minutes into the game, he hit Purdue's first three of the season off an offensive rebound tracked down by Stefanovic after Caleb Furst hustled to keep it alive. It put Purdue up for good, as it turned out. After Bellarmine blew a layup in transition, Thompson made it pay with a run-out three.
Later, he again made back-to-back triples to help Purdue keep one step ahead of a Knight team that did have some offensive success in that first half, though the Boilermakers were much better defensively than they showed during the exhibition season.
"When you know teams are going to over-help," said Thompson, who scored 15 points on nine shots, with four assists and no turnovers, "you just have to be ready to shoot, get a good rhythm going and knock them down."
Purdue found rhythm in more than one way, both from long range and the foul line, where it made 18 straight to start the game and used its big men to fully leverage the double bonus. The Boilermakers drew 20 fouls, seven of them on Edey, who was 8-of-10 at the line.
But it also found that passing rhythm that Painter has hoped to see this season. He's figured that improving as a passing team would yield improvement as a shooting team.
Purdue finished with 21 assists on their 28 made field goals, many of them being shooters feeding shooters.
| Key Sequence | Player of the Game | Stat of the Game |
|---|---|---|
|
As much as the Boilermakers' red-hot shooting mattered, it was that sequence during the final seven minutes of the first half when Zach Edey took over that really turned this game toward a blowout. As Purdue rained threes, he was bound to break out eventually. |
Sasha Stefanovic has had a penchant for these sorts of games in Mackey Arena, and he opened his senior season with yet another. He was 5-of-6 from three. These sorts of games are the reason that opponents plan for him defensively as a focal point, part of his immense offensive value. |
Purdue outrebounded Bellarmine 42-22, with Edey and Caleb Furst each collecting nine boards, and Trevion Williams grabbing seven in just under 15 minutes of playing time. Fifteen of Purdue's rebounds came off the offensive glass. |
WHAT IT MEANS
It means Purdue has a chance here to be a really formidable offensive team this season.
Keep in mind, the Boilermakers have a returning All-American who took one shot tonight, and their presumed leading scorer this season, Jaden Ivey, was 4-of-11 from the floor for 11 points.
This wasn't the Boilermakers' stars going off offensively tonight.
This was everybody else on a night when the investment Matt Painter's made in shooting really paid off.
