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Breakdown: Purdue's win over U-Indy

PDF: Purdue-Indianapolis stats

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Matt Painter was thrilled to see fans back in Mackey Arena, as Thursday night's exhibition game vs. the University of Indianapolis marked their return after last year's pandemic-related absence.

"They came out to see a really good basketball team," said Painter, whose team is ranked seventh nationally, "and they saw one, but it was from Indianapolis."

That was the final word on an 86-64 Boilermaker win that didn't come as easily as the final score might suggest.

"Those guys played with purpose, those guys played hard," Painter said of U-Indy. "They don't have the size or the talent that we have, but their heads were in it. They were going to fight."

Speaking so glowingly of opponents post-game is nothing new for Painter. It's his way.

But on this night, every compliment he paid the Greyhounds came with a layer of consternation over his own team's showing, one that started with Indianapolis jumping out to an 8-0 lead.

Purdue still won comfortably, and was never really truly threatened once it shook some bad mojo at the foul line and cruised past that early deficit, but again, it didn't come as easily as the way these sorts of games often go.

"We were just really sloppy to start out the game," center Zach Edey said. "I missed a bunch of shots I should never miss, we messed up some defensive schemes and let them get downhill too much.

"I think we took the game for granted a little bit and felt we were a way better team and would jump on them early. They played harder than us and we let them jump on us."

Here's how things went down ...

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WHAT HAPPENED

Purdue showed flashes of the sort of team people assume it will be this season, given its talent, depth and now experience.

But it was no straight line, especially at the defensive end. Indianapolis too often — for Purdue's liking at least — broke the Boilermakers down off the dribble and the results were a game in which the Greyhounds shot 54 percent in the first half, 46 percent for the game, and made 12-of-27 threes.

Painter started Zach Edey, Caleb Furst, Sasha Stefanovic, Jaden Ivey and Isaiah Thompson.

For the second half, though, Trevion Williams started in place of Edey and Ethan Morton took Ivey's place.

"I was just playing the guys who had played better," Painter said.

There are some complexities at play here, dynamics that Painter has often said he has no clear answer to. He has a roster full of players he feels are winning Big Ten players, but only so many minutes to go around. He's pre-emptively told his players they'll need to "sacrifice" in some way this season.

Thursday night, Purdue played 10 players at least 16 minutes. (Keep in mind, returning starter Mason Gillis did not play as he sits out a suspension.)

Six of them scored at least eight points, and it wasn't until Edey reeled off a dozen straight late in the second half to put the game out of reach that Purdue had any separation in the scoring column. Edey finished with 20 and made 8-of-12 shots, despite an 0-for-4 start.

Jaden Ivey, a safe bet to lead Purdue in minutes this season, played less than 18, in which time he scored 12 points. He made three of his four threes, but just one of his five foul shots, an outlier result.

Caleb Furst buoyed Purdue early, and finished with 11 points on just five shots.

Brandon Newman made three threes and finished with 11 points and Trevion Williams added 10, and Isaiah Thompson eight.

This game reflected Purdue's reality this season, with virtually unprecedented depth, the sort of luxury that gives Painter the option to bring a returning All-American off the bench to start the game and a potential All-American off the bench after halftime.

Never before has a Purdue team had this many seemingly quality players fighting for so few minutes and such precious roles. It's an opportunity to separate oneself, but a dynamic that can go the other way, too.

Purdue has a lot of players, a lot of talent, yet something was missing on Thursday night for a team full of players who have reason to want to prove themselves.

"I don't think anybody left here saying Purdue left here playing harder than Indianapolis," Painter said. "That's embarrassing to me as a coach. ... I have to get them to play with more of a purpose, but to simply play harder."

GAME GLANCE
Key Sequence Player of the Game Stat of the Game

After Indy led 11-2, Caleb Furst nailed a three-pointer that triggered a 13-point Purdue run that swung the game in the home team's favor. Furst scored five points during that run.

Tough call here, but Trevion Williams played very well. "If this were a real game, he'd have finished the game for us," Painter said. Ten points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals In 18 minutes.

To the Boilermakers' credit, they turned the ball over only six times. That comes on the heels of really struggling In that area in the second half against Providence.

WHAT IT MEANS

This was a continuation of some concerns that came out of the Providence scrimmage, in which Purdue gave up nearly 90 points and lost by one in overtime.

This was also a needed experience for Purdue, and all the players who'd never played in front of a real Mackey Arena crowd until tonight. Only four Boilermakers had.

"It's a totally different atmosphere and the energy was crazy," said Newman, who was redshirting two seasons ago before the fans went away last season. "It was a huge difference from what it was a year ago. You could kind of see that we had to get a little bit of jitters out into that first media timeout."

There's no telling whether that new energy contributed to Purdue starting the game 3-of-11 at the foul line, but that was part of the lackluster tone set in this game, a result that doesn't matter one bit but served as a developmental exercise.

Regardless of the result not counting — or the fact that Purdue still won this game going away, despite an unfulfilling path to that result — the importance of this game lies now in what one of the country's most highly regarded teams does with it.

Purdue did have to labor at times tonight, right from the outset actually, and coaches will tell you that struggling can be a healthy thing. Purdue struggled against Providence, though, too.

The goal now will obviously be to reverse course in some areas prior to Tuesday night's opener vs. Bellarmine. As coaches say, no practices are going to be canceled.

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