Purdue lives and dies with their Big Three, is it sustainable?
The 9-4 Boilermakers had one of the toughest non-conference schedules in America to start their season.
They had bouts with Alabama, Auburn, Marquette, NC State, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M, going 3-3 in that stretch of six non-conference games.
What did Purdue find out during their non-conference schedule this year? Their success relies on Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer.
Not that we are surprised, right? Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer were pushed into the starting lineup as freshmen, TKR, played right next to two-time NPOY, Zach Edey for two seasons, starting at Power Forward.
Now, Matt Painter leaned on the trio to win games, not just compliment the offense. If one has an off game, chances are that Purdue will lose the game. We saw this at Marquette when Braden Smith only had 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting.
We also saw it against Texas A&M, when TKR only had 11 points and 4 rebounds. He also had 5 turnovers and fouled out of that game in Indianapolis.
Against Auburn, Smith struggled as well, scoring just 8 points on 3 of 12 shots, and tallying 5 turnovers.
The point is, Purdue goes as these three go. Purdue is averaging 77 points per game, not an awful number by any means, but the big three for Purdue scores on average 61% of those points each game.
In their most recent game, they scored 74 of Purdue’s 83 points or 89% of the team’s total points.
Purdue is no different than most teams around the country, the majority of top 25 teams have two to four main contributors, but the fall off at Purdue from our 3rd leading scorer (Loyer at 13.6 ppg) to Colvin (6.3 ppg) is massive.
For a successful Big Ten Campaign, Purdue will need a 4th to emerge almost on a nightly basis, rarely will the dominant trio be enough.
Cam Heide and Myles Colvin have not scored a point for Purdue since the Texas A&M game, on December 14th.
They combined for a whopping 0 points 0 for 13 shooting against Auburn and Toledo.
The answer is not on the bench, either, though CJ Cox has shown that he can score in spurts, it is evident heading into the New Year that Harris, Furst, and Burgess are offensive liabilities at best when in the game, but provide rest for the starters.
Matt Painter will need Colvin and Cam Heide to provide the scoring for the Big Ten Schedule as the fourth option, particularly in shooting threes and stretching the opposing defense.
It is clear what Purdue will get from their veteran starters, but it is time for a fourth player to show consistency, that is if Purdue wants to host another Big Ten Trophy by March.