Purdue Basketball: 3 keys for Boilermakers to defeat No. 18 North Carolina
By Tommy Farmer
Get Sasha Stefanovic Enough Shots
When you look at Purdue from an offensive standpoint, there’s clearly an abundance of talent. Trevion Williams and Jaden Ivey were both preseason All-Americans and are expected to have monster seasons.
Expectations for Zach Edey following an impressive FIBA summer were very high and he has delivered to the tune of 18.7 points per game as Purdue’s leading scorer. Sophomore Brandon Newman is coming off an impressive freshman season and has started off this season averaging 12.3 points per game. The list goes on…
Likely due to all this talent, senior Sasha Stefanovic often gets overlooked for how important he is to this team. Stefanovic is the best three-point shooter on Purdue and is crucial to Purdue’s offense and spacing. The 6’5” guard doesn’t need much time or room to get his shot off and has a microwave-like ability to heat up and hit several shots in a row.
Having a player like Stefanovic is crucial when you have guys like Ivey, Williams, and Edey who draw so much of a defense’s attention. When defenses focus too much of their attention on stopping Ivey from getting in the lane, it creates open shots for Stefanovic. Likewise, when double teams are sent to Edey or Williams down low, Purdue can take advantage of poor defensive rotations and find Stefanovic for three. His value also works the other way; when defenses refuse to leave him, Ivey and the bigs have added room to operate and get buckets.
In Purdue’s three games, Stefanovic is averaging 13.7 points per game on 57.9% from three. Painter and the Boilermakers can’t forget about him when they take on UNC because he keeps defenses honest. If Stefanovic is properly utilized, Carolina will have a tough time stopping Purdue.