Game preview | Northern Kentucky at #14 Purdue

#14 Purdue’s non-conference regular season winning streak is now 35 games after Purdue opened the 2024-25 season with a 90-73 victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

In Purdue’s second game of the year, Northern Kentucky travels to Mackey Arena on Friday night.

Northern Kentucky lost its season opener on the road to Florida State 74-62.

Purdue’s team moved forward after the loss Zach Edey to the NBA Draft into a three-headed monster on offense Fletcher Loyer Pioneer with points (21), Braden Smith Control of the offense (15 assists) and Trey Kaufman Renn dominated in depth in the first game (15 pts, 9 RBS).

While the three Purdues offensively led reliably through two exhibition games and the season opener, Braden Smith already claims to be the best player in the Big Ten and perhaps the country.

The junior guard has started every game alongside Loyer since joining Purdue as a true freshman in 2022-23. The Westfield native is the best guard in the Big Ten and one of the most productive guards in the country. Blacksmith did everything for Purdue in the season opener. Blacksmith finished the game with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 15 assists. That assist total is just one step shy of his career record as he was threatening to record his first triple-double after coming close a few times last year.

But Purdue’s experience is balanced with four true freshmen who will play real minutes for the Boilers.

Gicarri Harris earned his way into the starting lineup, is Georgia’s true freshman guard, and shot a key three-pointer late in his first regular season game while providing size and defense at the guard spot. Painter chose Harris because he offers better ball handling and his ability to occupy the point guards all over the court, which saves Smith from having to throw himself even more on defense.

Daniel JacobsenPurdue’s all-time freshman center, 7-4, also made a start in his first career start and impressed with his best minutes in the final six minutes of the win. Jacobsen’s performance was encouraging for a position that is still a question mark at this point in the season. Jacobsen had 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in his first game. He has added rim protection that no one else on the roster really has.

But Purdue’s unheralded starter may have had Purdue’s best game. Fletcher Loyer led Purdue with 21 points on 6 of 10 shooting, knocking down 3 of his 5 three-point attempts. He also had a pivotal performance in which he helped Purdue gain separation on the scoreboard late in the second half by knocking down a corner kick and then making three free throws on a pump fake as the shot clock expired. In a game where Purdue struggled to keep the ball, Loyer only tallied one turnover.

It’s a different Purdue team heading into the 2024-25 season than last season, but there’s still plenty of experience at the guard spots and the freshmen have already shown they’re capable of making a splash to worry about as Purdue and Matt Painter look to face another challenging non-season. Conference schedule as they look to win their third straight Big Ten Conference.

Purdue has already dealt with a few different defensive philosophies early in the season. Creighton featured a traditional defense with a perimeter protecting the big man Ryan Kalkbrenner. Creighton capitalized on this strength by playing drop coverage in the pick and roll. That meant it was Braden Smith Managing the scoring load for Purdue. Blacksmith responded with more than 30 points in Purdue’s first exhibition game.

Loyer found the same space away from the ball and was able to attack with the ball. This meant that Purdue’s shooters on the wings had limited options because those shooters couldn’t help the defense.

In Purdue’s season opener, Purdue played a defensive-minded Texas A&M Corpus Christi team that wanted to get the ball out Braden Smith‘s hands through hard hedging. A hard guard means that both the big man and the ball defender would double up on Smith and try to push him away from the pitch and towards midfield on screens. That meant instead Braden Smith He was forced and willing to find his open shooters and bigs on the short roll and in the corner, making threes or pushing into mid-range.

The result, Braden Smith brought his teammates into the game with 15 assists, just one less than his career mark.

Northern Kentucky will be the first team to face a young Purdue team in the zone. This will be a good test to see how Purdue’s off-ball shooting develops and how Purdue can move the ball without turning it over. Purdue had 16 turnovers against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, a number that concerns head coach Matt Painter. For Purdue to be a great team, they need to stay near the 10-turnover mark in games, Painter said.

The Norse zone is not a traditional 2-3 or 3-2 zone, but features a match-up zone that requires heavy help and trapping inside. This led to the Norse having an effective day limiting Florida State’s three-point shooting.

It also forced 12 Seminole turnovers. The Norse will also bring in plenty of man-to-man defense.

There will be a height advantage for Purdue as Norse’s tallest player is 6-9. Instead, Northern Kentucky relies on catching, good length on the sidelines and passing lanes to disrupt offenses.

Responsibility for sales remains Braden Smith And Trey Kaufman Renn. The two combined for ten turnovers in Purdue’s first regular season game alone.

Northern Kentucky effectively disrupted Florida State’s three-point shot in the season’s opening game. On the road, the Seminoles stopped 4 of 22 shots from three goals.

This is a trend for Darrin Horn teams. The Norse were among the best teams in the country at defending the perimeter last year, holding teams to 31.6% three-point shooting.

Purdue was 11-26 in its first game of the season after shooting hot in the first half Myles Colvin He hit four three-pointers off the bench.

Josh Dilling Led the Norse in the season opener, scoring 18 points against Florida State and making 14 shots. It is Dilling’s first season with the Norse and he has shown that he is not afraid to score goals. In his first game, he made eleven three-point attempts, although he only made two of them.

Randal Pettus II is Norse’s other starting player who showed he can do a little bit of everything by scoring 12 points, grabbing 7 boards and assisting on 3 shots. After coming off the bench as one of Northern Kentucky’s most important players last season, he now takes on the role of starter.

Trey Robinson is a long wing, at 6-7, he was a crucial cog for the Norse for a long time. This is his fifth and final season at Northern Kentucky and he started every game last season. He led the team with 9 rebounds and 4 assists.