Purdue is off to a strong 7-2 start with the losses coming in close contests to top 15 teams Villanova and Louisville. From what we’ve seen so far, the Boilermakers have established that they’re on a short list of teams that look like they can win the Big Ten and make a run into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan are the stars who deserve first billing, but it’s also time to note the significant improvement that junior guard Dakota Mathias has made in becoming one of the league’s best shooters as well as the steady hand guiding Purdue’s offense.

Dakota Mathias has been one of the best deep shooters in the B1G this season. (John Terhune, Journal & Courier)

Mathias has always been a strong long-range shooter, as his 38.6 percent mark from three-point range last season shows. But he’s taken it to another level so far this year, connecting on 24-of-43 threes (55.8%) and sporting one of the nation’s best Offensive Ratings (133.4). More than just a bomber, he has also led the team in assists four times and averages around four rebounds and a steal per outing. And even though he has also increased his turnovers (up nearly six percent over last season), Purdue owns the 14th most efficient offense in the land because it shoots the ball so well all over the court. Mathias leads a corps of shooters such as Ryan Cline, PJ Thompson and Vincent Edwards, all of whom are shooting better than 39 percent from deep. Purdue’s ability to shoot the ball from three-point range so well (44.8%, third nationally) gives the big men Swanigan and Haas numerous easy looks in the post.

Another reason why the Boilermakers shoot it so well is because most of the lineup (Carsen Edwards, excluded) takes shots that they can make. It sounds like a simple enough statement, but it’s a rare occasion when anyone other than the hyper-athletic freshman guard really forces anything. Haas and Swanigan generally take their shots within the flow of the offense, and if they’re swarmed, both are good about kicking the ball back out to the perimeter. The ball keeps moving around the wings as well, ultimately leading to the fourth-best assist rate in college basketball (69.7%). Mathias in particular rarely takes a poor shot, and his ability to shot fake defenders to create additional space would make Bobby Knight nod with approval. It will be interesting to note whether things regress for Mathias once conference play starts and better athletes who are familiar with his game crowd him upon every catch. But for now, at least, the junior guard has shown that Purdue is a lot more than just its two large bodies standing in the lane.

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 Thursday, December 8th, 2016 at 2:01 pm by Brendan Brody and is filed under big ten, feature, microsites. Tagged: caleb swanigan, Carsen Edwards, Dakota Mathias, isaac haas, PJ Thompson, purdue, ryan cline, Vincent 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.