The Big Ten crowns its tournament champion last. It has been that way for years, and it has become a tradition for basketball fans to tune in to the Big Ten title game and then go straight to the NCAA Selection Show. It was a historic season for a lot of Big Ten teams this year. Michigan went 19-1 in the regular season, Nebraska finished in second at 15-5, and Purdue won the league championship as the seven seed.
The Purdue Boilermakers were the preseason number 1 team, and winning the Big Ten wasn’t that far out of the realm of possibility. It was just how they did it, by running roughshod through some of the conference's best teams and defeating Michigan in the finals. The Boilermakers have made 11 straight NCAA Tournaments and 37 of them overall. Purdue was given a 2 seed and will make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament for three reasons.
Braden Smith
The Boilermakers have the best point guard in the country, and I don’t think it is all that close. Head coach Matt Painter has developed Smith into one of the best point guards in the country, and even though it will be official with one more assist, the senior point guard will break Bobby Hurley’s all-time assist record with 1,075 total assists. He will get one assist and will likely get it in the opening minutes of the NCAA Tournament.
Smith is a tough cover; teams have to worry about his passing. To truly neutralize Smith, teams are going to have to play him out around the half-court line and not let him get into the paint. The problem with that is that his court vision and ability to pass the ball are elite, so that if teams come out too far, he will throw a half-court pass into the paint for easy dunks. That then becomes a problem.
The other way he puts pressure on teams is with his scoring. Smith is so much more than a pass-first point guard. He leads the team in shot attempts, scoring, and shoots 37% from three. If you are cutting off his passing or keeping him contained, teams have to worry about his scoring. Smith was the preseason National Player of the Year for a reason. He is good enough to carry Purdue to a Final Four.
Purdue Big Men
Look at that, Purdue has some excellent big men again. That has become a staple of Matt Painter-coached teams. The only difference with this team is that he doesn’t have any players who are well over 7’0” tall. At least not that get a good chunk of the minutes. The two big men that coach Painter starts are both skilled, but one is a scorer, and the other is a rebounder.
Trey Kaufman-Renn has taken off over the last two seasons, and while he didn’t have the scoring output he wanted to this season, he didn’t need to.
He is still averaging over 13 points per game on 58% shooting and is an excellent rebounder. Then there is the other big man in Oscar Cluff. Cluff is shooting 70% from the floor and is a great offensive rebounder. He has moments when he is a defensive liability, and he does foul a lot, but when Cluff is on the floor and trying on defense,e he can be a force and a dominant one. His ability to offensive rebound changes games for Purdue.
It wouldn’t be hard to play in the Purdue offense, especially with a point guard who is going to get everyone involved, but they have one of the longest average two-point distances per KenPom. Their big men have a ton of skill, and once they get the ball, they are going to score points.
Role PlayersÂ
Every great team has stars; we have already established that Purdue has stars. The next thing for every great team is role players, and the Boilers have a lot of players who have accepted and excelled in their roles. The role players are often the ones who help teams over the hump to make a deep run.
CJ Cox is the glue guy for Purdue, but he has some games where he has gone absolutely nuclear. In the game against Nebraska, when Purdue blew a huge lead in Lincoln, he made three huge threes that extended the lead and allowed the Boilermakers to get the game into Overtime, where they eventually won. Then there was the game at Northwestern that Purdue was going to lose without Cox scoring 30. Cox is also a good defender and is often the best player for the other team.
Fletcher Loyer came to West Lafayette with Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn. He has won a ton of games for the Boilermakers with his ability to shoot. Loyer led the Big Ten in three-point percentage and was the second most in total makes with 98. The shooting guard is the one guy you can’t leave open. He has been on fire lately after a midseason slump. If Loyer is comfortable, the Boilers are very hard to beat.