Hot three-point shooting lifts Purdue over Morehead State
PDF: Purdue-Morehead State stats
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Morehead State was faced with a tough proposition.
The team with a 6-foot-6 “center” couldn’t match Purdue’s size, but if it played zone, it likely couldn’t quickly enough reach Purdue’s shooters.
Still, the Eagles went primarily with zone — a defense that is not their main one — and the Boilermakers did exactly as expected: Shot themselves to a big victory Saturday at Mackey Arena.
No. 15 Purdue made 11 three-pointers in the first half — and connected on 15-of-29 in the game — en route to a 90-56 victory.
In his first career start, Carsen Edwards made his first four three-pointers and finished 4-of-7, Dakota Mathias drilled 4-of-6 threes, P.J. Thompson made 3-of-5 and Ryan Cline made 3-of-5 as the Boilermakers (6-2) got a barrage of perimeter shots to go in against the zone.
And, even better, they sunk them most of the time off great ball movement. Purdue stayed patient, swinging the ball around the perimeter, getting Caleb Swanigan touches at the high post in the zone and still looking inside, too.
In all, Purdue assists on 27 of its 34 baskets — and that includes every single one of its three-pointers.
“It’s just good basketball,” said Mathias, whose 12 points came on threes. “It makes the whole flow of your offense better. Rather than guys coming off screens and going one-on-one iso, when you move the ball and make the defense work like that for 10, 15, 20 seconds, it just wears them down, especially when you’re moving the ball and being unselfish like we were (Saturday). It takes a toll on the defense.
“If we continue to do that, we’re going to be tough to beat.”
Purdue figured it’d have a favorable matchup against the Eagles (2-7). The team from the Ohio Valley generally plays a switching man, Purdue coach Matt Painter said, but that wasn’t a real option against the Boilermakers, who typically start at least three players 6-foot-8. So when the Eagles came out in a zone, Purdue quickly realized it and wasted no time in making them pay.
On the second possession, Mathias got a feed from Swanigan in the middle and drilled a three from the wing. Two possessions later, Purdue passed around the perimeter a couple times before Carsen Edwards cashed in from the wing off Thompson’s pass. Two possessions later, Edwards returned the favor off a drive-and-kick to Thompson for a three.
Edwards let another fly two minutes later maybe earlier than he could have, but it went in. Then Vincent Edwards went inside-out to Mathias for another three, and, less than a minute later, Carsen Edwards stuck another, giving Purdue a 6-for-6 start from beyond the arc and a 23-9 lead less than eight minutes into the game.
“There are a lot of people on the team who are able to shoot the ball well, and we were just moving the ball well and shots were falling,” said Carsen Edwards, whose four threes tied a career high. “People were getting hot, so we were just getting the ball to the hot hand and making shots.”
Purdue wasn’t ignoring its posts, though.
Isaac Haas still got touches, and Swanigan worked the middle of the paint perfectly, nearly always making the right decision of lobbing to Haas, kicking it out to the perimeter or stepping into a jump shot.
“I think we have a lot of unselfish guys on the team. Especially when they’re playing zone like that, you can really move the ball,” Mathias said. “It’s a luxury to have Biggie inside like that. In the middle of the paint, he attracts a lot of attention, but he’s a willing and able passer, too. That just spreads the whole defense. We have a lot of unselfish guys who really look for each other.”
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