Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) smiles Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, during the NCAA men’s basketball game against the Toledo Rockets at Mackey Enviornment in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue Boilermakers won 83-64.
No. 20 Purdue is about to dive into Large Ten Conference play for the remainder of the regular season. Are you ready?
According to Purdue coach Matt Painter, the answer is a definite maybe.
“We will be if we win the next game,” Painter said. “Many times, coaches talk about it, but they do it in theory. We haven’t won any away games. “I like where we will be if we win the next game.”
Purdue (9-4, 1-1 Large Ten) will have its next test when it visits Minnesota (8-5, 0-2) on Thursday night in Minneapolis. The Boilermakers are coming off an 83-64 win over Toledo on Sunday, following a pair of losses against then-No. 17 Texas A&M and No. 2 Auburn.
Painter wants to see more progress from his players when they start against Minnesota.
“We have to get some people on our team, really, collectively, everyone on our team, to do a better job and be more physical,” Painter said. “We have too many people with their feet nailed to the ground. You have to hit someone and then go get the ball. Just being close to the ball.
“We are having some fundamental failures. “I didn’t think our defense was bad, but if you don’t get more possessions than your opponent, you’re not giving yourself a good chance,” he added. “It’s a physical league. Things are not called the same on the road, as we all know. “Those are questions we have to answer, not that I have to answer.”
Minnesota will look for its third straight win after defeating Fairleigh Dickinson and Morgan State at home over the last week and a half. The Golden Gophers lost by double digits in each of their first two conference games against Michigan State and Indiana.
Golden Gophers forward Parker Fox said it would take a total effort for him and his teammates to defeat a team like Purdue. Fox is averaging 7.2 points and 2.5 rebounds on the season.
“It’s going to take everyone,” Fox said. “We’re not a team that has five guys that are going to play 40 minutes… We’re really going to rely on strength in numbers.”
Purdue has a lot of weight with three players at the helm. Trey Kaufman-Renn leads the team with 18.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Braden Smith is next with 14.5 points and a team-high 8.6 assists per game, and Fletcher Loyer rounds out the top three with 13.6 points per game.
The next three scorers (Daniel Jacobsen at 6.5 points per game, Myles Colvin at 6.3 and Camden Heide at 6.0) average less than half of Purdue’s top three scorers.
Minnesota is led by Dawson Garcia, who averages 19.1 points and 7.4 rebounds. Mike Mitchell Jr. is next with 13.3 points per game, and Lu’Cye Patterson (9.7 points per game) and Fox (7.2) round out the top four scorers.
The Golden Gophers are 8-2 at home this season. Purdue is 0-2 on the road.
–Media at field level
