The Purdue Boilermakers secured their spot in the Sweet Sixteen with victories over Queens and Miami while flashing both their consistently efficient offense and an improved defense over the last two weeks. The Boilers were dominant in their opening round victory against Queens while needing more finesse against the Hurricanes but it was a total team effort for the entire weekend as the Boilers will square off against the 11th-seeded Texas Longhorns that feature former Purdue wing Cam Heide.
This is going to contain information from two games so let’s jump into the numbers!
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7
With Purdue’s victory against Miami, Purdue has now made the Sweet 16 in 7 of the last 9 NCAA Tournaments. That’s something no other program in the country can lay claim to and is a testament to the consistently high level Matt Painter has elevated the program to. Yes, Purdue has history with some bad losses in the NCAA Tourney but those have been pushed to the side as Painter has clearly learned from those hard lessons.
Next season will be a test for the Boilers with the guys they have leaving but I’m not sure there is anyone else in the country you trust more as a head coach to get the most out of a team and make a run in March right now.
500
Matt Painter has been the example of consistency since he became the head coach at Purdue for the 2005-2006 season. In his 21 seasons, Purdue has averaged 23.8 wins per season and that gives Painter 500 victories in that time span. He is now the 11th fastest coach to achieve 500 victories at one school joining Bill Self (Kansas-17 Seasons), Mark Few (Gonzaga-18 Seasons), Jerry Tarkanian (UNLV-19 Seasons), Lute Olson (Arizona-20 Seasons), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse-21 Seasons), Tom Izzo (Michigan State-21 Seasons), Jim Calhoun (UConn-21 Seasons), Denny Crum (Louisville-21 Seasons), John Thompson (Georgetown-21 Seasons), Jay Wright (Villanova-21 Seasons).
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That’s also faster than Coach K at Duke, Coach Wooden at UCLA, Dean Smith at UNC, and Adolph Rupp at Kentucky. That’s a testament to what Painter has been able to do for the Boilermakers.
50-50-95
Purdue got outrebounded and the Hurricanes took sixteen more shots but Purdue efficient offense is what won them the game. Overall, the Boilers were 53.2% from the field (25-47), 57.1% from behind the three point arc (8-14), and 95.5% from the free throw line (21-22). That is just the third time in the history of the NCAA Tourney that a team has shot 50-50-95 along with Marquette in 2003 (Round of 32) and Syracuse in 1996 (Round of 64).
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Purdue offense has been at the pinnacle of efficiency all season and is a testament to what Coach Painter has built towards. What you are seeing this season is the continued evolution of what Painter changed to when he brought in Rapheal Davis and AJ Hammons so many seasons ago.
1,077
With his second assist in Purdue’s opening round game against Queens, Braden Smith became the NCAA All Time Career Assists Leader with 1,077. He passed Duke’s Bobby Hurley and what he will do from here on out will be putting distance between himself and whoever may come down the line.
The next record that he could possibly grab would be the All Time NCAA Tourney Assists record that Bobby Hurley also holds. That’ll be much harder to get given what happened his freshman year but he currently sits at #3 overall with 100 total assists. The two guys ahead of him are Ed Cota (UNC) with 103 and Bobby Hurley (Duke) with 145. I’m not going to say that would be unattainable but Smith would have to average nearly 12 assists per game and make the National Final to get that last record.
57.9%
Just let it rip, man! Those were the thoughts from Fletcher Loyer following the Boilers’ round of 32 victory over Miami and did Loyer and his teammates do just that. In the first two rounds, Purdue has shot a blistering 22 of 38 from being the arc for 57.9%. That’s an unbelievable number and one that, even when an opponent outrebounds and has sixteen more field goal attempts in a game, the Boilers can still grab a ten point win. Loyer himself was 8 of 12 over those two games and an incredible 19 of 35 for 54% over his last five games. The senior is leading the Boilers on a trajectory that might just lead to another Final Four.
88.4
Matt Painter spoke very plainly several weeks ago as the Boilers were in the midst of their struggles nearing the end of the season. He knew his players were good enough to play solid defense but they seemingly just…couldn’t. He said that his team was coming in and out of focus and that likely means his players weren’t providing the kind of effort and energy necessary to win games. I think that message was well received.
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Over their last 6 games (since March 9th), Purdue’s Kenpom adjusted defensive efficiency rating is 88.4 with games against some solid offensive teams in Nebraska (52), Michigan (6), Miami (33), UCLA (28), and Queens (79). From their pre-March numbers, that is a roughly 12 points per 100 possessions and likely around an 8.4 point swing in their favor defensively. That places them 11th in the country in that same time frame since March 9th and would place them 10th of the remaining teams in the Sweet 16.
Purdue has played more drop coverage and that may be one reason for Purdue’s improvement as they are forcing more long jump shots inside the arc or funneling players into their size inside. It would also be incredibly beneficial if CJ Cox was able to play at or near 100% given his defensive metrics as top-tier perimeter defender.
A bit of opponent insight in this regard as well: Texas ranks last of the Sweet 16 teams defensively in that same time frame at 95.2.
