Quick thoughts – Purdue 87, Creighton 93(Exhibition Game)

Purdue hasn’t lost a regular season non-conference game in over three seasons, but for the second straight year, Purdue will lose its exhibition road opener against a ranked opponent.

Purdue traveled to Nebraska to take on Creighton for its first exhibition game and despite a 31 point showing by Braden Smith, fell 93-87.

Pop Isaacs went off for Creighton, scoring 24 points including going 4 of 6 from three.

Ryan Kalkbrenner didn’t disappoint, the big man was 6 of 7 from the floor, knocked down all five of his free throws, made a three, and scored 18 points.

For Purdue, this was game was about getting its freshmen ready to play under the lights.

That and showcasing Braden Smith. Smith looked every bit an All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year, scoring what would have been a career high 31 points, knocking down 5 of 11 three-pointers, grabbing 7 boards and going for 4 assists in a game-high 34 minutes.

Purdue’s offense at times looked like it wasn’t missing a beat without Zach Edey, but the defense, well it’s gonna need some work as Purdue has one more exhibition game before starting its season off in earnest in a week’s time.

Creighton didn’t help, shooting lights out from three as it knocked down 13 of 28 three-point attempts.

More concerning is Creighton was 23 of 32 from inside the arc. Purdue’s collection of big man did good things on the offensive end, but it struggled to contain Creighton at the rim.

Purdue made a good run in the second half, taking the lead briefly behind some brilliance and hot shooting by Braden Smith.

Overall, Purdue’s offense hit the ground running despite struggling from the free throw and not having a great shooting night. It’s clear that Braden Smith is going to get his guys looks. He had great chemistry with Kaufman-Renn in the pick and roll and Fletcher Loyer got a lot of good looks off of action in the half court.

But Purdue’s defense gave up too much too easy as Creighton was build up just enough of a lead.

Purdue’s guards look secure even if they’ll want more out of Myles Colvin and Camden Heide going forward.

But Purdue’s big man issue looks just like that around Trey Kaufman-Renn. No one took a clear step towards securing the starting five spot.

Matt Painter will be happy. His team got tested by a ready and game Creighton team on the road. Purdue will be better for it going into the season.

Purdue came into the game with three certain starters: Fletcher Loyer, Braden Smith, and Trey Kaufman-Renn.

All three didn’t disappoint on the offensive end.

Kaufman-Renn had 22 points on 10 of 20 shooting and led the team with 8 rebounds in 28 minutes of action while not committing a turnover. He flashed good chemistry with Smith in the pick and roll, and was effective at the four, backing down and scoring over smaller defenders.

Fletcher Loyer looked like Purdue’s second option for large portions of the game, working hard off screens, knocking down two of three three-pointers, and scoring an efficient 17 points on 9 field goal attempts. He also had two steals on the defensive end.

It’s clear that Purdue’s offense will run through these three guys. Taking the three out of the equation, Purdue was just 6 of 15 from the floor.

The only other Boiler to make a three besides Smith and Loyer was true freshman Daniel Jacobsen.

In one flash of plays, Daniel Jacobsen showed how far he has to go and what could be when he gets there.

At one end, Jacobsen was bullied by the likely All-American, Ryan Kalkbrenner, for a dunk inside. At the other, Jacobsen, all 7-4 of him, was left wide open at the top of the key. So open that he had time to look to pass, realize no one was around him, and then set sights on the three-pointer ahead of him. He flushed it.

Big men like Jacobsen aren’t supposed to shoot like that.

But the true freshman was out manned, bullied, and thrown around at the other end in this game. Jacbosen lost positioning inside, got pushed deep into the paint, and looked a little like he’d never met his physical match before on the court. He probably hasn’t.

But this isn’t isn’t high school anymore and despite playing in a talented circuit, the Big Ten and Purdue’s non-conference will feature experienced, strong, and big bodied centers. Jacbosen has work to do to get acclimated to college basketball.

Even with his struggles, Purdue is gonna need him this season as he showed better in the second half with Will Berg in foul trouble.

Jacobsen got the second half start and finished the game with 7 points and 5 rebounds in 18 minutes.

With high hopes for the two sophomore, Camden Heide was scoreless in 14 minutes and Myles Colvin had one of three shots for 2 points.

Both players were after thoughts on the offensive end with Heide not even getting up a shot.

It’ll remain to be seen if this was just a case of wanting to get the freshmen acclimated to college basketball or if the two wings will have a role more similar to last year than anticipated.

It was a bit of a rough showing for Gicarri Harris, who missed two big threes late, and never got going on the offensive end.

Harris drew the start next to Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith, but he struggled on the defensive end, fouling four times, and losing shooters in screens in his 19 minutes of action. But Harris also showed off his size and toughness at the guard position, grabbing 6 rebounds and not turning the ball over.

He’ll have better days.

CJ Cox is having a lot of good days for Purdue. He’s carried his summer momentum over into a strong ten minute performance at Creighton. Cox showed off his shot making by knocking down a pull up jumper in the first half, and had two defensive highlights when he stripped Creighton guards for his two steals. Cox got to the line 4 times and looked more natural running the offense.