Marquette coach Shaka Smart Offers High Praise for Matt Painter, Purdue Basketball Program
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In his head coaching career, Shaka Smart has crossed paths with Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter and oftentimes gotten the better of the Boilermakers.
He was at the helm of a talented VCU roster that knocked Purdue out of the 2011 NCAA Tournament in the second round and proceeded to make it to the Final Four.
Smart, now in his second season with Marquette, brought the Golden Eagles into Mackey Arena to face the Boilermakers who were on a 16-game nonconference win streak at home entering Tuesday night's matchup. The last home loss came at the hands of Texas, led by Smart, on Nov. 9, 2019. He also handed the team a setback at Texas in December of 2018.
But this time, Purdue finally defeated a team coached by Smart, earning a 75-70 victory over Marquette as part of the 2022 Gavitt Tipoff Games. The coach of the Golden Eagles had plenty to say about Painter and the Boilermakers after the game.
"I think Matt Painter is one of the best coaches in the country, and I think this is one of the best programs in the country, Purdue," Smart said. "For us, in the beginning of the second year of our program, we want to emulate people like them. He doesn't get enough credit for what he does here, doing it the right way.
"There are a lot of people in college basketball that go about things different ways, but I have a lot of respect for coach Painter and the way that those guys play."
Marquette led by as many as nine points, but with strong second-half performances by junior center Zach Edey and freshman guard Braden Smith, Purdue was able to seize a 17-2 run to take control of the game. The Boilermakers led for less than two minutes in the opening period, but the scoring surge put them up 71-62 with under a minute left.
"I thought Purdue did a phenomenal job taking that game down the stretch," Smart said. "We were up nine with a little under 11 minutes left and they really, really outplayed us in that last 10-11 minutes."
The story of the game was Smith and his ability to take over the contest despite playing in just his third career college basketball game. He scored 15 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, including six straight in that run to take a decisive lead.
Smith was 6-of-8 from the field, including 3-for-4 from the 3-point line, while adding three assists and two rebounds in 27 minutes on the floor. He also knocked down five of his six free-throw attempts down the stretch.
"I thought Braden Smith was as much of a difference-maker as anyone tonight," Smart said. "As a freshman guard, to have the wherewithal to be as aggressive as he was in the second half, particularly the last quarter of the game, was a huge difference."
Purdue improved to 3-0 for the second straight season and will prepare for a trip to Portland, Ore., on Nov. 24 for the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament. The team will tip off against West Virginia in the first round.
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.