GoldandBlack.com Analysis: Purdue-Jacksonville State

Saturday night, Purdue rolled over Jacksonville State 81-49, in its final home game before the Emerald Coast Classic games in Florida, then a visit from Virginia.

Below, we break down a few of the finer points of the Boilermaker victory.

Granted, Jacksonville State is what it is, but this game served as a reminder of what Purdue has in Matt Haarms.

Purdue dominated this game by getting the ball to him and Trevion Williams on the interior, but Haarms' impact went far beyond the offensive end, where he was great.

Haarms also was this game's key figure on the glass with 10 rebounds, on defense, where he may turn out to be an elite defender both against the dribble and as a shot-blocker. Tonight, he blocked five shots, and off at least two of them, Purdue ran and made threes.

That counts toward his value, as it would for any shot-blocker.

Then, this: Haarms drew eight fouls. That stuff adds up. Obviously Haarms is not Isaac Haas or Caleb Swanigan from a physical perspective, but fouls are fouls, however they come, and again, that stuff adds up and affects games one way or another, and having a presence like Haarms (and Williams, for that matter) matters.

Another reason Purdue must play through the post, and Saturday night was a step In the right direction.

Haarms seems to be trending toward being something much more than he's been prior to this season.

He wants the ball, and when he gets it, he's almost always done right with it, including handling double teams well, thanks in part to the fact Purdue defensively doubles the post as a basic tenet of its defensive, so it's what Haarms sees in practice.

Offensive chemistry is hard to quantify, but you know it when you see It, and you saw It Saturday night, suggesting two things.

1. The week of practice helped.

2. Purdue is learning how to play with each other, and pass to one another.

This was Purdue's best passing game of the season, not just the critical post-entry game, but all around.

Jahaad Proctor, a newcomer, was excellent as a passer. Eric Hunter, who has the ball In his hands so much more this season, was too.

Twenty assists vs. six turnovers is a big-time ratio, no matter the opponent.

twice, Eric Hunter broke Jacksonville State down off the dribble specifically to set up passes to Haarms for buckets around the rim. Eastern and Hunter each made nice crosscourt passes in semi-transition for open threes.

Purdue caught and handled the ball cleaner tonight than it has in most games this season, and that speaks to certainty, but also the quality of the passing for Purdue.

This was always going to be a process.

Seems like that process took a step forward in the past week.

The Boilermaker guard seems determined to show he can shoot, after putting in a good deal of work on it in the off-season.

Eastern is a player who's earned the privilege to be viewed for what he does as opposed to what he doesn't, but obviously his shooting has been much-scrutinized, not just by fans, but by opponents' defensive game plans.

It will be interesting to see where this goes, because Purdue doesn't need Eastern shooting jump shots to win, but if he can ... that's another element for Purdue offensively, could open up his drives, his opportunities off ball screens and totally change how Purdue is defended. It would open up the post in some cases even more.

That all would be gravy, however, because Eastern brings plenty to the table as is.

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