3. The Illini locked down Purdue from outside
Entering the game on Friday night, one of the keys I had to beat Purdue was to make sure Illinois plays solid perimeter defense. Trey Kaufman-Renn is a really good player, but the Illini couldn’t handle Purdue getting hot from deep.
The main players I was wanting the Illini to focus on were Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith. This Boilermakers backcourt is sneaky good, and they can tear you apart if you let them. Thankfully, the Illini were ready.
I was impressed with how Illinois came out and shut this duo down. The Purdue backcourt couldn’t get going from the perimeter, and it had a lot to do with Illinois being aggressive on the three-point arc.
There were only a few times Illinois got lazy and would go under screens. This is when Smith would hit a three-pointer. But, for the most part, we worked through screens. Illinois had great communication on switches too.
For the game, Loyer was shut down completely from deep. He was 0-of-2 from three-point range. Smith wasn’t much better either, as he shot 2-of-9 from beyond the three-point arc. Purdue as a team was just 5-of-18, 27.8%, on the night.
Illinois came out and had a good game plan against Purdue. We didn’t let them get hot from three-point range or it would have been a long night. This defensive effort was huge on Friday.