Aside from not coming away with a hard-fought victory, Purdue‘s Monday night loss at home against the reigning National Champion Villanova went about as well as possible. The Boilermakers proved that they can play at a roughly equivalent level to a top five team in coming back from double-figure deficits twice to tie the game before falling late. Matt Painter would undoubtedly argue that a loss is still a loss, but there are some things that Purdue should take away from this game that represent encouraging signs for the rest of the season.

Purdue Gave Villanova Nearly All It Could Handle (USA Today Images)

• Physical Mismatches: Villanova is not a big team at all but few teams in college basketball will be able to match Purdue’s size down low. Seeing how the Boilermakers’ front line played against the gritty Wildcats, though, proves that Purdue should be able to run its offense through the paint. When Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan are both on the floor together, they can run some beautiful high-low action to take advantage of Swanigan’s exceptional abilities as a passer. Both players can also get to the free throw line at will, so expect many more nights where the pair combines to shoot 70 percent (14-of-20) on two-point field goals as they did on Monday night.

• Depth and Versatility: Beyond Haas and Swanigan, last night’s loss showed how Purdue will be able to survive foul trouble in the frontcourt with Vince Edwards (10 points, eight assists) and Basil Smotherman (five points, six rebounds, three assists) filling in. Foul trouble was a concern in the first half of last night’s game, but Smotherman proved that he’ll be able to step in and play the four next to either Haas or Swanigan for extended minutes. This gives Painter the luxury of allowing Haas to play in shorter segments, keeping him fresh for crunch time. With Smotherman on the floor the Boilermakers lose some scoring but they won’t lose much defensively with his athleticism and instincts. Likewise, Edwards can also defend the paint and the wings while still providing scoring and good decision-making.
• Carsen Edwards and Spike Albrecht: Purdue loses some of its defensive prowess without Raphael Davis on the wing, but its offense could be much better with the freshman Edwards and graduate transfer Albrecht now on board. Edwards did not play well against Villanova but he gives Painter another athletic guard who can provide perimeter shooting and transition opportunities. Albrecht gives the team another point guard who has played in countless big games during several deep March runs in Ann Arbor. If PJ Thompson or Dakota Mathias struggle, Edwards and Albrecht will be able to step into the backcourt for extended minutes without much of a dropoff.

Brendan Brody (307 Posts)

Brendan Brody is in his fourth season covering the Big Ten for RTC. Email him at brendan.brody@gmail.com, or follow him on twitter @berndon4.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 15th, 2016 at 12:01 pm by Brendan Brody and is filed under big ten, feature, microsites. Tagged: Basil Smotherman, caleb swanigan, Carsen Edwards, Dakota Mathias, isaac haas, matt painter, PJ Thompson, purdue, spike albrecht, vince edwards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.