Game Preview | Maryland at Purdue | Boilers look to bounce back

#8 Purdue (7-2, 0-1) will play host to a hot Maryland (8-1, 1-0) on Sunday at noon.

Maryland is coming off its best win of the season, dominating Ohio State 83-59 at home behind a Derik Queen 17-10 double-double.

Purdue is reeling after its second road loss of the season, an 81-70 drubbing to Penn State, a game where Purdue commited 24 turnovers as a team. It’s the second year in a row Purdue has started its conference slate with a road loss. Last year, Purdue responded by winning its second straight Big Ten Title, going undefeated at home throughout the season.

Purdue has already taken on one of the nation’s toughest schedules with games against: Alabama, at Marquette, NC State, and Ole Miss. It’s faired well to this point, but with games against Texas A&M and Auburn next week, Purdue is an uncomfortable place of needing to pick up this win at home before two tough semi-neutral games before Christmas.

Purdue is also looking to win the Big Ten for the third straight season. A second loss this early in the season will make that task an uphill climb for the rest of the season.

Maryland is looking to make a run at the Big Ten with a 2-0 start that’d include a win over the pre-season favorite Boilers. Maryland has had some success against Purdue the last few years at home, but now it will try to go into Mackey and upset a Purdue team that’s starting to look vulnerable.

Purdue didn’t lose at home last year. In fairness, Purdue didn’t really lose in many places last year, but there’s no denying the Purdue team at home this season has looked entirely different than the Purdue team on the road.

Caveat to that is Purdue’s two road games have featured going into two of the best defensive teams on Purdue’s schedule in Marquette and Penn State. That said, there’s no denying that the Purdue team that showed up at Penn State on Thursday and turned the ball over 24 teams didn’t look anything like the Purdue team that beat then #2 Alabama at home while turning the ball over just 3 times.

“Our quality of play was so poor the other night we couldn’t function,” Painter said on Saturday about his team’s play against Penn State.

Fletcher Loyer, on of Purdue’s three junior starters, was equally unimpressed.

“I was a little disappointed in our fight,” Loyer told me Saturday. “When you don’t got the fight in you to go stop their run and go make a run yourself, just because you haven’t played very well to start the game, it’s disappointing.”

Purdue will likely want to burn the tape against Penn State. Penn State had their way with Purdue on defense, particularly Purdue’s big three. The three combined for 15 of Purdue’s 24 turnovers.

Braden Smith was held to his lowest assist total of the season with Penn State hard hedging and forcing him out of plays. Trey Kaufman-Renn had a game-high 7 turnovers in the post against a physical Penn State low post game plan. Fletcher Loyer was just 3 of 10 from the floor with 5 turnovers of his own.

Its not going to be a secret on how Purdue can turn its play around on Sunday. It needs its big three to go back to being the stars they’ve been for most their career at Purdue, and that starts with taking care of the ball against a team that very much wants to turn teams over.

“[Ja’Kobi] Gillepsi and Derik Queen have given them two pieces that the ball can go,” Matt Painter began his breakdown of Maryland on Saturday ahead of the game when talking to media.

Queen is Maryland’s do everything big. A 6-10 big with the body to bang down low, the skill to play on the perimeter, and the vision to break apart opposing defenses with his play making. Queen is leading the team in scoring at 16.6 points a game in just 26.8 minutes a game. He’s also averaging nearly 3 assists a game. The unique blend of size and skill should look familiar to a Purdue team that’s thrived when its own do everything big man is getting the ball in space on offense in Trey Kaufman-Renn.

Queen is joined by a dangerous guard, Ja’Kobi Gillepsi, who is shooting nearly 40% from three and second on the team in scoring at 13.7 points a game.

Both will present Purdue will points of concern. Purdue’s defense has struggled containing the dribble and both players will look to break into the paint and get Purdue into rotation.

Purdue has embraced its small ball lineup and will get an early test with a team that plays a lot of two bigs with the versatile and agile Julian Reese returning for Maryland to play alongside Queen.

Purdue’s wings will be tested with Camden Heide existing as the full time four and only Caleb Furst coming off the bench as a big will have Purdue needing the best of its big men against a tough, physical Maryland team.

For an offense that looked broken at Penn State, Maryland isn’t exactly a welcomed reprieve. Maryland has been one of the country’s best defensive teams to start the season.

The Terrapins are defending the three-point line well (28.3%), inside the arc well (43.1%), and it’s been one of the best teams in the country at forcing turnovers.

Kenpom has Maryland as the 9th best defense at this point in the season. It forced Ohio State into 17 turnovers in its last game while holding them to 4 of 19 from the three-point line.

As good as Maryland has been on defense, Purdue has been on offense. The question will be whether Purdue is that much better at home and if it was just a one game blip at Penn State.

“I think it’s us beating ourselves,” Fletcher Loyer told me about the common thread between Purdue’s two blow out losses on the road. The tough talk didn’t end there.

“Last year we had more experience,” Loyer said. “You didn’t have to make sure everybody’s ready to go. It was a known fact.”

Purdue had its best season in the Matt Painter era last season. Zach Edey, Mason Gillis, Ethan Morton, and Lance Jones were leaders on and off the court. They are all gone now. While Purdue had a lot of talent, wins, and skill returning, the leadership that left the building has meant growing pains for Purdue’s three juniors that have taken the mantle of Purdue’s leaders in the locker room.

“Last year we knew how good we were and we just trusted that everybody’s gonna show up and give 110%,” Loyer said. Clearly against Penn State, Purdue wasn’t ready. “This year we gotta bring it out some more with some guys.”

It’s a testament to the success Fletcher Loyer, Braden Smith, and Tray Kaufman-Renn has had that two losses before Christmas feels disappointing. That’s what happens when you hadn’t lost a non-conference game in three seasons, and was ranked #1 by conference play each of the last three seasons.

“The guys last year knew what it meant to win a Big Ten and knew how hard it was,” Loyer continued. “This year you gotta tell em how hard it is. It’s hard to see it. After these two road losses its pretty easy to see how difficult it is to win on the road.”

That said, all is not lost for Purdue. Purdue lost its conference opener last season and still won the Big Ten by three games. It hasn’t shown any sign of weakness at home this season, and with a win against Maryland, it’ll still be the favorite to take down a deep but gettable Big Ten. That doesn’t take away the sting from letting the first game slip for Loyer though.

When I asked Loyer what the emotions are in the days between the loss and getting back out there, he had this to say: “Pissed off. Trying to figure out the world’s problems. Ultimately, you gotta sit back and think about a couple things you can do better.”

Purdue will try to be better on Sunday at noon against a hungry Maryland team.