College Basketball

Purdue's win over Illinois invites more questions than answers

Updated Mar. 6, 2023 9:53 a.m. ET

College Football and College Basketball Writer

A stepback 3-point attempt from Matthew Mayer arced into the fearful air at Mackey Arena as a sellout crowd held its breath over the possibility of an all-out, all-time collapse that would have shattered confidence and shredded momentum ahead of the Big Ten Tournament and the larger prize beyond.

Purdue had led this game by 21 points at halftime and 18 points with 13:41 remaining. The Boilermakers had smothered Illinois’ two best scorers — Mayer and Terrence Shannon Jr. — and received unexpectedly buoyant contributions from guards Braden Smith and Brandon Newman on the offensive end of the floor. Long stretches of Sunday’s regular-season finale felt like the perfect get-right game for a probable No. 1 seed that endured a rough patch in February.

Then it nearly crumbled.

Seven turnovers and nine fouls committed in the final 13 minutes. Five consecutive misses by Naismith National Player of the Year candidate Zach Edey. Three missed free throws. All of it culminating in a tied game with 1:17 remaining.

That’s when head coach Matt Painter drew up a play for his star, for Edey, for the player he’s said he’ll go to every time if opposing teams allow it in the closing moments of close games. And the monstrous, mountainous Edey (17 points, six rebounds) rewarded his coach with a beautiful up-and-under move for what proved to be the game-winning layup.

Mayer's desperation heave came up short. The Boilermakers made five free throws in the final 21 seconds to stave off embarrassment and secure a 76-71 victory that will invite more questions than it answered as postseason play begins later this week.

Brandon Newman leads Purdue to victory

Purdue's Brandon Newman scored 19 points in a 76-71 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Lingering questions about Purdue’s freshmen

As the crowd at Mackey Arena boiled and roared following Smith’s second 3-pointer of the first half — a basket that pushed Purdue’s lead to 17 — the diminutive point guard bellowed and flexed and clenched his fists on the way back to a jubilant Boilermaker bench.

How great it must have felt for Smith to wrench himself free from a shooting slump that, in a micro sense, spanned the last three games in which he shot a combined 5-for-18 from the field, but the tendrils of which have ensnared him on and off for six weeks. Aside from a 24-point burst against Iowa on Feb. 9, his scoring average from Jan. 22 through Thursday’s win over Wisconsin dipped to 8.1 points per game with seven outings of 9 points or fewer. An 87-73 blowout of the Hawkeyes was the only time he made multiple 3-pointers in a single game during that stretch.

Yet aside from Newman, whose game-high 19 points against Illinois were fairly described as surprising, Smith was the Boilermakers’ most potent, most efficient offensive player for the majority of the game. His deft use of ball screens in the first half facilitated the kind of pull-up jumpers that drowned Purdue last weekend when Indiana freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino poured in 35 points against Painter’s team in a brilliant mid-range display. And when the ball was swung or kicked toward Smith for open 3s, he responded by making multiple 3s for just the second time since Jan. 19 en route to 14 first-half points.

[Purdue-Illinois highlights: All the top moments from thriller]

But everything Smith did well to begin Saturday’s game, unspooled during a disastrous second half that, when combined with an abysmal showing from Fletcher Loyer, his fellow freshman, underscored every justifiable concern about the Boilermakers’ chances in the NCAA Tournament.

In the final 10 minutes, Smith turned the ball over and had a transition layup blocked on an incredible play by Shannon that exploited his opponent’s casual jaunt to the rim. He missed a critical free throw in the waning seconds and looked supremely uncomfortable against Illinois’ relentless on-ball pressure.

Loyer endured one of his worst games of the season, with 4 points on 0-for-4 shooting and more personal fouls (four) than assists (three). His only offensive output came at the free-throw line, where he helped ice the game with two clutch makes that offset his combination of foul and turnover a few minutes prior. But it was the eighth time in the last 13 games that Purdue’s second-leading scorer — he averages 11.9 points per game — failed to reach double figures.

Smith and Loyer are proving how difficult it is to win tough games with an all-freshman backcourt.

"Freshmen go through different moments at different times," Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said of Purdue’s guards the day before facing the Boilermakers. "They’ve had an outstanding year. Loyer is just an unbelievable shooter, and I think they’ve played with great composure. Those two kids have been thrown out there very early on, and Zach gives them a nice buffer, but they’re both very good players."

Terrence Shannon Jr.'s RIDICULOUS chase-down block

Illinois' Terrence Shannon Jr. caught up to Purdue's Braden Smith for an amazing block on Sunday.

Shuffling the deck

In a sign that the Boilermakers have been searching for something, anything, to halt what appeared to be the early stages of a downward spiral — they lost twice in the span of eight days in early February — Painter and his staff changed their starting lineup in four consecutive games. Beginning with a road loss to Maryland on Feb. 16, and continuing through a 63-61 escape against Wisconsin on March 2, the only players whose spots remained unchanged were Edey, Loyer and Smith, the team’s three leading scorers.

Around them spun a carousel of supporting actors whose contributions have waxed and waned throughout the year: small forwards Newman (5.6 points per game), Mason Gillis (6.3 PPG), Ethan Morton (4.1 PPG); and power forward Caleb Furst (6.0 PPG).

Newman, a junior, earned his first start of the season in Thursday’s win over Wisconsin. He scored seven points on an inefficient 2-for-7 shooting performance, including misfires on all five attempts from beyond the arc, but Painter came away quite pleased with the contributions. With the game teetering in the waning seconds, Newman confidently swished a pair of free throws that pushed Purdue’s lead from one point to three points. The camera crew caught him assuring the Boilermakers’ bench he would make both shots during the short break between his first and second attempts. The remainder of Newman’s stat line included five rebounds and two steals.

"His energy in the last game, really, from a staff standpoint, we just thought we needed that," Painter said after a hard-fought win in Madison. "We needed someone going out there and just laying it on the line competing. ... Proud of Brandon. He’s always stayed with it. He did it last year; he’s done it this year. I appreciate him hanging in there."

Brandon Newman knocks down a long 3-pointer

Purdue's Brandon Newman drained a 3-pointer late in the first half as the Boilermakers went to the locker room with a 47-26 lead.

The superior effort at Wisconsin earned Newman another start Sunday, an opportunity he maximized from the opening tip. Newman notched an assist, two steals and forced Illinois' Shannon to travel within the first 2:14 of what evolved into a lopsided half. Purdue’s lead swelled to 11-0 when Newman curled off a baseline screen to bury a 3-pointer from the left wing.

He saved his second flurry for the latter stages of the first half, by which point the Illini had clawed to within a reasonable margin. In the span of 3:25, Newman converted a traditional three-point play in transition, ripped the ball from Shannon and drew another foul on a fast break, drilled two more 3-pointers and fed an assist to power forward Trey Kaufman-Renn for a layup that gave the Boilermakers a 21-point edge at the break.

Newman ended the half with a team-best 15 points — already the third-highest point total of his career against a Big Ten opponent — but never made a field goal in the second half. He helped seal the game with four free throws in the final 21 seconds after disappearing for 19 minutes.

Painter needs him to be an X-factor as the Big Ten Tournament awaits.

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.

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