What Purdue Basketball Coach Matt Painter Said Ahead of Rematch With Nebraska

Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter met with the media Thursday ahead of the team's home game against Nebraska. The two programs are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. ET on Friday inside Mackey Arena.

D.J. Fezler | Jan 12, 2023

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Purdue Boilermakers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Following back-to-back wins on the road, No. 3 Purdue basketball returns to Mackey Arena on Friday night for a matchup with Nebraska. It's the second meeting between the two programs this season, with the Boilermakers escaping Lincoln, Neb., with a 65-62 overtime win on Dec. 10.

The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. ET and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. To preview the contest, Purdue coach Matt Painter met with the media Thursday.

Here's everything he had to say ahead of the game, including the full video attached to this article:

On what the team learned from its first meeting with Nebraska...

Painter: We were obviously in a good spot in the game with 13 or 14 minutes to go up 14 points. And then obviously, after you went back and watched it two or three times, we got some pretty good shots. We were in a situation, obviously, when you're getting good shots and you're missing good shots, like what should you change when they're taking something away?

We had some breakdowns defensively. I thought, especially late in the game, we were just kind of feeling our way through some of their action when they know they're going to it when they needed to score. And we had some breakdowns. We fouled the 3-point shooter probably three times off the top of my head, and just kind of handed them some points.

You gotta give them credit for executing, but you can't foul 3-point shooters. One went in and the other two didn't. You don't want to send people to the free-throw line to be able to do that. The thing that probably jumps out more than anything is probably their 19 offensive rebounds. They did a great job of getting on the glass. They took some tough shots, they'd drive it and they took some tough 3s. And with that, sometimes you have some rebounds that just aren't traditional, and you got to be able to get them.

And I think that's going to be a big key in our game, is trying to keep them out of the lane because a lot of their penetration gets them to the free-throw line. A lot of their penetration sets up other guys on their team for open shots. So being able to keep the ball in front of us and also be able to rebound the ball.

On finding consistency from the 3-point line over the last two games...

Painter: I don't think there's anything to it. I think when you struggle shooting the basketball, you gotta go back and dissect, are you getting the shots that you want? And you can't control everything, as a matter of fact, sometimes you can't control anything. But there are some things, you know, you got to try to manipulate the defense however they're trying to guard your guys.

And then when you get some good ones and you miss it, I've always tried to stay process-based and just be positive, especially when the people shooting are capable of making them. I just think that some shots are going down, you know, water is going to find its level with people that can shoot that are struggling a little bit. And now we've made some. We haven't went crazy or anything, but we've obviously been more consistent the last couple of games.

On making adjustments in preparation for a team you've already played before in the same season...

Painter: You definitely throw something out there when something works. You want to see what the adjustments going to be. Sometimes it's obvious, sometimes it's not. Sometimes it can be some subtle things or small things. Or is that what they intended to do?

You know, sometimes players will kind of do their own thing and defend something maybe that the coach didn't want. You don't try to overthink things, but you also got to trust your instincts, especially as the game goes along. Like, you think, hey, these things are going to work. Then you get in the game, and maybe they do, maybe they don't. But things will pop up during the course of a game and you got to trust your instincts to be able to go them when you see an advantage.

On expecting Nebraska to deploy the same defensive strategy for junior center Zach Edey...

Painter: They will do the same thing. It's what they do. And so like, how they defend the post, like how they defended Indiana, how they defended every team that they've played, they come with the low man on a double in the post. No matter if you post up at 18 feet or you post up at four feet, that's what they're gonna do.

The game before us, Indiana did a really good job of spacing them, and then Indiana knock down some shots. And then the difference in our game was we didn't knock down some shots. It gets to be result based and you can't be that way. You got to stay process based, if you're getting good shots, keep doing what you're doing.

You hope that you can knock down some more shots and help extend that lead. We weren't able to do that, and then obviously it became a really close game.

On Fletcher Loyer having strong second-half performances in each of the last two games...

Painter: In a lot of our games this year, he seems to be a guy — and not in those games — that gets a lot of opportunities early in the game. Like he seems to get two or three shots in the first three, four minutes of a game. Just taking what the defense gives you more than anything for him, but he's been really aggressive in those second halves and that's what we need him to be.

Just take what the defense gives you and stay aggressive because obviously, he's not just a guy that can make jump shots. He can put the ball on the floor and help out his teammates, but also make plays for himself.

On how rare it is for a freshman to take advantage of late-game opportunities like Loyer has this season...

Painter: Zack's done a good job in Rutgers, and Zach did a good job in Ohio State making good decisions and putting him in position. The one that he made against Rutgers was actually a rotation from Braden [Smith], and then the one against Ohio State was just an in-and-out.

Like I said, just taking what they give you, and we have really good balance. But when you got weapons, like the other day when Braden had a lot of success in the high ball screen action, like we just didn't go away from it. When you see something like that, you're getting a lot of mileage out of it, you just stick with it. You'd like to have overall balance, but things aren't perfect.

On how much Braden Smith's scoring ability begins to open up the offense...

Painter: Well, it also opens up if people are going to be in complete drops, and just give him a pull-up. So he's been able to obviously get to the basket and make the right reads all year. But if they're going to give him that pull-up and those deep drops, he's got to keep taking them. Whether those are 3s or 2s.

On how Penn State's defense against Braden Smith opened up lob passes to the team's frontcourt...

Painter: He had the lob and he had his pull-up. He got to the rim a couple of times, he had a couple spray-out 3s. So he was getting a variety of stuff off high ball screens.

On Braden Smith's play after a poor showing in the team's loss to Rutgers...

Painter: I think he's just had more energy. You know, I don't think he had very good energy against Rutgers. And then when things went wrong, he just kind of went with the flow of that.

You got to find your energy and play through some tough moments so you can make it better. And you just got to bounce back quicker. And I thought he did that in those last two games, you know, he just kept playing. Just moved on to the next play.

On Ethan Morton taking advantage of more opportunities on the offensive end of the court...

Painter: When they present themselves. At times when you struggle, it's hard to do it with people that are confident in their own abilities. But when you struggle like, now you got to probe the defense a little bit more, you got to be a little bit more patient.

You know, Ethan understands those things. He obviously hasn't shot the ball as well as he would like. He obviously shot a better clip last year, but he's capable. So like when he's open right there, step in and knock those shots down.

On Ethan Morton's responsibilities and importance on the defensive end of the floor...

Painter: Well, it depends on the other team and who we want to put him on. You know, we kept him on [Jalen] Pickett. But we did a lot of switching, so Pickett actually scored probably a handful of his baskets against other people.

But, you know, he's just got good size and so he can guard a lot of different people. He can guard one through four. Just staying with him, just depends on who you play. Like you can put him with [Keisei] Tominaga, and he does a good job of staying with him. If he gets away, his size helps.

You can put him with [Sam] Griesel, who they kind of match up together. They're both 6-foot-7. You know, it just depends on the other team and what they're actually trying to do. He was probably the best matchup for [Paul] Mulcahy because Mulcahy does a lot of back-down stuff, which a lot of people are going to with their guards. So his size really helps us there.

On how Caleb Furst has impacted the game by being part of Purdue's starting lineup...

Painter: He's played well. It takes a little bit of time to learn to play off of other people. He seems to get going at the start of the second half. He's had a lot of good runs at the start of the second half. But just take your shots when they're there. Take your post-ups when they're there. Get on the glass, run.

The area he's improved the most in is defense. He's really helped us on the defensive end. And it just takes a little bit of time. You're used to guarding the biggest guy on the floor, and now you guard the second-biggest guy on the floor, they're gonna stretch you out a little bit more. But that's where he's made the most improvement.

On Mason Gillis' ability to play off other players regardless of if he's starting or coming off the bench...

Painter: Getting with Zack or getting with Trey [Kaufman-Renn], they're both post-up type guys, even though Trey can do more. We play through the post with him. But he understands our system, he can make shots. You know, he crashes hard, he plays hard, he runs hard. And that's what you need. He's a hard-charging dude, and bringing that energy and bringing that effort is always going to help us.