In his 19 seasons at the helm of Purdue basketball, coach Matt Painter has seen it all.
There’s been close calls and near falls. Utter disappointment. And, now a chance to bring a national title home for the first time since Purdue basketball made it to the national championship game in 1969, losing to UCLA.
Standing in the way is an opponent unlike any Purdue basketball has seen this season, defending national champion UConn, who has steamrolled its way to the championship game tonight.
“The most important team is your team, I think anyone would say that at this point, but UConn is a very good basketball team. Really good defensively and run a lot of really good stuff offensively,” Painter told the media Sunday.
As has been a constant theme all season, Painter said Purdue basketball has to do a few things if it stands a chance of securing a win.
“You have to be on your P’s and Q’s. You’ve got to take care of the basketball, you’ve got to be able to rebound and you’ve got to be good in transition. If you take bad shots and turn the ball over, you’re in deep trouble. Probably the best I’ve seen in a long time taking your mistake and making you pay for it. Once that happens, it’s automatic. Can’t have those type of turnovers and bad shots. And, then you have to guard them,” Painter said.
Painter: We have a lot of respect for UConn
Painter was asked if he has noticed a different vibe with his Purdue basketball team during its run in the tournament, and while he said no, the veteran coach mentioned his team knows what it is up against.
“They understand what they are up against. They understand we haven’t played anyone like UConn. They’re not fools. We have cable where we’re from. We’re very familiar. I think that’s the number one thing of not fearing your opponent, but respecting your opponent. We have a lot of respect for UConn. They have great individual players. They have a great coach,” Painter said.
Painter said it will be one thing for Purdue basketball to study what makes UConn great and another thing to stop it.
“They swarm you. They get into you. They make it difficult on you. Don’t put yourself in difficult situations. Take care of the basketball. Make good decisions and run what we call. What they do a good job of is when blood is in the water. They will make you pay and that’s two or three points at the other end,” Painter said.
Mason Gillis said UConn, like Purdue basketball, has worked to get to the position it finds itself in.
“We’ve done our work to get here. It’s two great programs, two great cultures, two great coaches going at it,” Gillis said.
Fletcher Loyer echoed those sentiments.
“Getting ourselves ready. Obviously, they are a great team. They made it here second year in a row,” Loyer said.
For Zach Edey, this is the game Purdue wanted, he said.
“This is the game we were looking forward to,” Edey said.
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