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Matt Painter expresses pride in Purdue’s nonconference performance: ‘It’s not easy’

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Matt Painter is proud of what his team has accomplished so far this season. That probably goes without saying, but the head coach wanted to take a minute to reflect on what Purdue has managed in nonconference play this season.

On Saturday, the Boilermakers toppled No. 1 Arizona. It was the first win vs. the AP’s No. 1 team for the program since 2000, also a win over a No. 1 Arizona team that season.

Purdue now has ranked wins over Gonzaga, Tennessee, Marquette and Arizona to go with other key victories against Xaver and Alabama outside of the B1G. Asked to assess where his team is at, Painter simply said he’s proud because nonconference play is not easy.

“Obviously proud of our guys. We were able to take each one of these games as challenges and at times we weren’t great in every area, but we’ve been resilient, we’ve hung in there,” said Painter. “I thought Fletcher (Loyer) made some really great plays tonight, against Tennessee I thought he made some really physical plays. We’ve had some other guys step up for us, but it’s hard… It’s not easy. It’s really really hard, so just proud of those guys to be able to win those games nonconference.”

Painter also said his team mainly took what Arizona was giving them in Saturday’s game. He particularly credited Braden Smith for some key plays with a lot of attention expectedly paid toward center Zach Edey.

“They just took what they gave them. A lot of attention goes to Zach, a lot of attention is with Braden and those ball screens,” explained Painter. “They’re playing a deep drop, I thought Braden did a great job of just taking what they gave him, making a couple of those pull-ups, making some pull-up 3s but also just playing… When you force things and have predetermined thoughts, that’s when you get into trouble.”

With Saturday’s win, Purdue is now 10-1 overall and 9-0 in nonconference action. The Boilermakers will conclude December with games against Jacksonville and Eastern Kentucky before resuming B1G play in January.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.