Limiting Cowan, dribble penetration key for Purdue against Maryland

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Anthony Cowan is quick, shifty and more physical than he may get credit for.

That’s, at least, Purdue coach Matt Painter’s description of Maryland’s point guard.

The same player who made 5-of-12 shots, including four-of-seven threes, and forced his way to the free throw line where he sunk six of six en route to scoring 20 points against Painter’s Boilermakers on Dec. 1.

That’s been a while — a product of the crazy moved-up Big Ten schedule for the year — but it hasn’t been forgotten. Cowan still will be a primary focus for the third-ranked Boilermakers on Wednesday, when the Terps come to Mackey Arena.

And the timing now is interesting, considering Purdue has struggled, at points, in the last two games not staying in to the ball and keeping players from getting into the lane on dribble penetration. Cowan’s quickness means he can get to the rim, well, quickly, whether it’s off ball screens or just beating his man one-on-one.

Painter said Purdue’s defense off the dribble has been “OK, not great” of late.

“I think we go stretches in the game where we do a really good job and then we go stretches where they break us down,” Painter said Tuesday. “Obviously, if you can keep the ball out of transition and do a better job of taking care of it and taking good shots, that really helps us. I think that’s more important than anything, getting a good shot every time down, taking care of the basketball, not turning it over, so you’re not in really vulnerable positions where they can break you down, they have numbers, they have angles.

“I thought at the end of the game against IU, we were pretty good. I thought some things in the first half, especially starting the game, we had too many breakdowns.”

The Boilermakers likely will mix up their individual defenders on Cowan, who has taken over primary point guard duties after the departure of Melo Trimble. Cowan has been good in the full-time role — a really full-time role, averaging 36.3 minutes per game — by leading Maryland in points (16.2 ppg), assists (5.0) and steals (1.5). He also gets to the line a lot: His 150 attempts are more than anyone in the conference. (For comparison’s sake, Isaac Haas has 133 attempts.)

Carsen Edwards likely will be tasked to guard Cowan at times, as will P.J. Thompson, but Edwards didn’t want to talk single-man defense Tuesday.

“It’s a team thing, especially when he gets in transition, (it's about) building walls,” Edwards said. “It’s not just who is going to stop the ball because, like Coach Paint says, with people with speed, they’re going to get by the first person. So it’s multiple people who stop the ball. It’s a team thing.

“He’s a good player. He’s quick with the ball. Even in the pick and roll, he’s quick. Just have to pay attention to detail.”

Edwards would be Purdue’s only option to match Cowan’s quickness, but it’s more than just about physical ability.

Edwards maximizes his defensive potential when he’s dialed in, and when he does that, he can be menacing. And Purdue could need that against Cowan Wednesday.

It’d be nice, too, though, if Edwards could showcase his considerable physicality on the defensive end. The game doesn’t quite allow that yet — whistles blow quickly — but Edwards is fine-tuning his presence on defense, nonetheless.

“I think I can defend well if I do pay attention and focus on details and lock in,” Edwards said. “I need to focus on just staying in front of my man. If (physicality) ever comes into play, I’ll be ready.”

A piece of the “team” defense, though, on Cowan, especially as it relates to Maryland setting ball screens, will be Purdue’s big.

After the IU game, Painter said the bigs weren’t high enough in ball screen defense. He doesn’t want them to come up with a hard hedge on an angle but, instead, to stay flat and level so players can’t come off and shoot.

Haas, the most-often used “big” who’ll be in that mix, said that’s something he’ll focus on.

“Ball screen defense is one (thing) we can get better at, especially on my end. I need to be a little bit up on ball screens, making sure I’m stopping those guys, not letting them get easy lanes to get the pocket pass or to get an open lane to the basket,” Haas said. “IU, kind of slacked on that. That’ll be something we fix (in practice).”

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