Game Preview: #3 Purdue vs. Maryland

Purdue's Matt Painter is a picture of stability and he has to be pleased with the way his team has defended for him over the last two weeks. Purdue's now a top-20 defense after holding Minnesota to 39 points on the road.

Maryland just beat Michigan at home to go with a couple nice Big Ten victories in their schedule, a win against a free-falling Ohio State and Illinois back at the start of December. Coach Kevin Willard will coach his first game at Mackey Arena.

Purdue now has a two game lead in the Big Ten with a 7-1 conference record while Maryland sits at 3-4 in the conference.

Purdue's 18-1 start to the season is the best in school history. Maryland is 12-6 with only one true road win on the season, at Louisville.

Kevin Willard takes over the Maryland Terrapins program after coaching at Seton Hall for the last 12 seasons.

Willard took a depleted Maryland roster with the departure of Mark Turgeon after a 10 year stint at College Park. Willard has done an admirable job his first season, and filled holes on his team in the offseason with three important transfers.

Jahari Long followed Willard over from Seton Hall. The Junior has been an important piece off the bench for the Terrapins, knocking down over 40% of his shots. Long has been a play maker prone to turnovers in his minutes this season. Willard has taken a hot hand approach with the long guard, when Long has it, he'll play upwards to twenty minutes. When he doesn't, he'll stay on the bench for most the game.

Donald Carey came to Maryland from Georgetown as a 6-5 shooter. He's struggled doing that this season, making just 29 of his 100 three-point attempts, but he's a capable, proven shooter that's had some big years in his four previous seasons at three schools. At Georgetown, he shot nearly 39% from three on 165 attempts. He was nearly 45% shooting the year before at Georgetown. He's yet to find his stroke this season, but Painter respects his ability to hit shots.

Jahmir Young has been Maryland's best player and one of the best additions for any school this season. The dynamic scoring guard leads the Terrapins in scoring despite also struggling from the three-point line this season. He's shooting just 27% from three but gets to the line, and is a dangerous driver of the basketball.

"Quick. Knows how to play through angles. Kind of a stop and go guy," Matt Painter said about Young ahead of Purdue facing him for the first time.

Matt Painter pointed to Maryland's roster construction and all their big, strong, and 'interchangeable' defenders as one of the toughest aspects of preparing and facing the Maryland Terrapins.

Maryland's offense has struggled to find a consistent rhythm. They have good creators and skill players, but they have collectively shot the ball well. They have KenPom's 68th best offense and they're shooting 30.3% from three as a team.

But they defend. They defend hard, and as Matt Painter describes, they defend in different ways.

"They'll come and get you some. They'll jump you some. They'll zone you some. They'll mix in their man. They'll switch. They'll do different things to get you to freeze. To get you to kind of think and go slow," he said on the Saturday before hosting Maryland the next day.

To counter this, Braden Smith will need to continue to orchestrate the pick and roll as he did against Minnesota where Painter said he did a little bit of everything in reading off the defense. Braden Smith's final line was one of his best of the season, scoring 19 points to go with 7 rebounds and 7 assists. He found Edey for lobs, got to the rim, and most importantly, took the jump shots defenses are giving to him more and more as he gets comfortable using Edey in pick and rolls to create open looks for the big man.

Purdue went into a half empty Williams Arena and held Minnesota to just 12 points in the first half, and 39 for the game. The fans might have been on to something, as Purdue's defense has started to ramp up their effort and effectiveness as Big Ten play picks up.

Purdue held Michigan State to 63 points on the road, Nebraska to 55 at home, and Penn State to 63 on the road in the three games prior to Minnesota.

Purdue has climbed from near 40th in defensive efficiency to 28th before the Minnesota game to now in the top-20 in the country. Their 19th ranked defense is holding teams to under 30% shooting from three, a 45.2% effective field goal percentage (19th nationally), and is the best team in the country at keeping teams off the free throw line.

Purdue's offense has remained in the top-5 all season. It sits as the third best in the country now, and Zach Edey has obviously been the best player in the country. But Purdue's defense has been something of a revelation for a team that was ranked in the 90's last year for defense.

Purdue's willingness to crash the glass, stay connected, and force tough shots has limited teams from going on runs against Purdue while creating good looks for their offense. It's a big reason why Purdue's now 18-1, the best 19-game start to a season in school history.