Purdue got the best of Marquette last year in the Maui Invitational Championship.



Purdue got the best of Marquette the year before that at home, too.




Long before that, Shaka Smart, and his VCU team got the best of a Purdue team with Final Four aspirations when the Baby Boilers were still hopping around Mackey Arena. At Texas, Smart got the best of Painter, too.

When Painter and Smart's team square off, it feels like an event.

But don't confuse competition with hostility. Part of the fascination of the Matt Painter and Shaka Smart rivalry is that the two coaches' on-court antics and products can be so antithesis to each other, but with building a program and as ideologists in college basketball, the two are complementary and complimentary of each other

Smart's team are fast and quick, prone to forcing turnovers and pressing on both ends of the floor. There is no break against Smart teams. They keep coming at you, and on offense, even when you figure out the pieces, they'll break you.



Painter's defense is about percentages and numbers. Its offense, elegant and orchestrated, but also very, very tall.



It makes for an exciting forty minutes as showcased in last year's Maui Invitational finale.


Marquette forced Purdue into 15 turnovers. Purdue out rebounded Marquette by 13. Zach Edey had 28 points and Tyler Kolek had 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists.


Now both teams, despite not picking up a transfer in the off season, move on from two of the best players in college basketball last season.


With Edey gone, Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer have picked up right where Purdue was last season - knocking off top-ranked teams in the non-conference.


Purdue is coming off an 87-78 victory over then #2 Alabama in Mackey Arena on Friday. This will be Purdue's first road trip as it heads to Milwaukee to take on #13 Marquette on Tuesday.


Marquette is coming off its first road trip, a 78-74 last minute win against a game Maryland team as it moves into its Kam Jones era.

Purdue's last trip to Marquette came in 2019, a ten-point loss.


Purdue's playing for history. It currently has a 39 game non-conference win streak, tied for the fourth longest in history. On the road, at Marquette, stands as one of Purdue's toughest tests as it tries to get to 40.

It can't go much better in the terms of shooting from Purdue's perspective. Purdue has made 46% of its perimeter shots four games into the season. Purdue has seven players shooting better than 35% from three and has gotten much needed contributions off the bench from Camden Heide, CJ Cox, and Myles Colvin.


Marquette is having a complete cold spell from one of its most reliable shooters over the last couple seasons. David Joplin is just 7 of 33 for the season, perhaps struggling most without having Kolek around to create open looks for the dangerous stretch four.


Ben Gold has only been a theoretical stretch big to start the season after making nearly 36% of his threes last season. He's started the year 5 of 24 from three.

Smart's two freshmen off the bench have gone a combined 3 of 16 off the bench from three.


Marquette was 5 of 17 against Purdue from three last season. Gold in particular was 0-3 and invited to shoot threes as Purdue tried to keep Marquette out of the paint.


Braden Smith led the way for Purdue last season, knocking down 4 of 6 attempts, but Purdue's new small ball lineup has four shooters on the floor for most the game now.

Marquette is shooting 30..4% as a team from three.


Purdue is holding teams to under 30% from the three point line. That's slightly more effective than the 30.1% given up by Marquette after four games.

Kam Jones won't be unfamiliar to Purdue fans. Jones has put up 17 and 19 points respectively in his two games against Purdue.


In those two games, Jones was the off ball guard, a dangerous lefty shooter that doesn't have a hole to his offense game. Jones has great size, good handles, and is always in attack mode at the hoop and behind the three point line. For the last two seasons he was able to play off Tyler Kolek. Now, Jones has made the transition to lead guard for Marquette.


"Obviously they've shifted with Kam Jones playing the point," Painter said Monday. "It's kind of amazing how good Kam Jones is in that position. Obviously he's a great player and a scorer, and he's had a lot of success in his career. Now he's running the show. Still scoring the basketball, that lead guard, with his ability to pass and do different things."


Jones is averaging 24 points a game on a blistering 54.5% shooting from three. He's been even better getting to the hoop, shooting 65% overall from the floor. He's also doubled his assist mark last year from 2.4 to 5.0 assists a game.

Which means Purdue's guards and Myles Colvin will continue to be tested. Purdue's had a strong list of perimeter scorers on its scouting reports the last couple games.



Against Yale, it was John Poulakidas. Alabama had Mark Sears. Now it's Kam Jones. It might be the best collection of left-handed scorers in succession this side of playing James Harden three times in a row.

Purdue tied a school record with just 3 turnovers against Alabama. It was a major step in the right direction for a team that had turned the ball over in the double digits the first three games of the season.


But now Purdue will have to contend with a Marquette team that's forcing turnovers on more than one out of four possessions defended. Purdue also won't get the benefit of a Mackey Arena crowd behind them.


Purdue traveled to Creighton for an exhibiton game for this exact reason. For a team that plays three true freshmen, this will be their first road game that counts, but the experience of going into a hostile crowd for an exhibition game should serve them well.


Marquette is nearly as good at holding onto the ball as they are forcing teams to lose it. It's turning the ball over on just 12% of its possessions, the twentieth best mark in the country.


Which will make the rebound battle of great importance for both teams, but particularly Purdue who probably can't expect to give up the ball just three times on the road. Purdue's struggled on the boards this year, but so has Marquette. Purdue's played a couple really good rebounding teams to start the season. Purdue was out rebounded by two by Alabama on Friday.

Both teams hover around the 200 mark for best rebounding teams in the country. Shaka Smart's teams generally choose speed and skill over pure size and this year's team is no different. Ben Gold is Smart's biggest player at 6-11 and is the only Golden Eagle over 6-9.



While Purdue still has a collection of seven plus footers and a few more just under 7 foot, it will likely come down to team rebounding and wing rebounding. Cam Heide leads Purdue in defensive rebounding percentage from the wing. David Joplin does the same for Marquette. The two wing/forwards will likely go back and forth during the game and whoever has the more successful night on the board is liable to give their team a big boost.