ISC Purdue

1/6/2025 Boilermaker Water Cooler Chat: New Year, New Boilers Edition

Rants, ravings, and somewhat sensical opinions following the wild, wacky, and wide-wide world of Purdue sports.

If you’re anything like me, you tend to be motivated at the beginning of the year. I always am looking for a unique challenge or a strong resolution as a goal for the upcoming months. I swear, this year, I will succeed…

The Boilermakers had a bit of a rocky stretch to end 2024, lost 3 of 4 in one stanza, and generally lacked the sharpness that we have been used to from Matt Painter’s teams. Yes, these hiccups were against some high-level competition, but there was definitely work to be done. Judging by the last two games, it appears that the Boilers have made their New Year resolutions absolutely clear.

The Games:

#20 Purdue 81, Minnesota 61

A slow start to the game, Purdue was still tied with an inferior opponent well into the second half… but rallied to dominate the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the final 15 minutes. Braden Smith scored his 1000th career point, all while scoring 20 pts adding 10 assists. Fletcher Loyer scored 24, with TKR and Furst adding 17 & 11 respectively. Oh, and speaking of Caleb Furst, he joined the starting lineup for the first time in several seasons, along with CJ Cox, who replaced the struggling Heide and Colvin.

Northwestern 61, #20 Purdue 79

Purdue got their first taste of a Boo Buie-less Northwestern in the greater part of a decade, and let me tell you something, brother, it was not good for the Wildcats. Purdue never trailed, got out to a fast start and never looked back. Braden Smith was on triple-double watch, falling short with an impressive 22 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. Flanking Braden was CJ Cox and TKR with a dozen each.

Impressively, Purdue stifled the Northwestern stars defensively, holding the two Wildcat stars 10 points under their average. Nick Martinelli and Brooks Barnhizer were both averaging well over 20 points per game prior to this contest. Martinelli ended his day with 10 points and 5 rebounds. Barnhizer, the “chip on his shoulder because Purdue didn’t recruit him” played his final basketball game in Lafayette Metro, finishing the day with 11 pts, 8 rebounds, and 2 missing teeth.

Purdue – Northwestern Photo Gallery: https://iscpurdue.com/purdue-mens-basketball-vs-northwestern-1-5-25/

Break It Down:

If I made a New Year’s resolution to “keep my blood pressure down during Purdue Basketball games” then I totally dominated this week. The way that this non-conference season broke down and the first few games after the holidays, things actually GOT EASIER heading into 2025. Yes, that will change, but this is a rare case of the difficulty lessening while getting into conference.

Braden Smith is absolutely dominating right now. He is hunting his shot, facilitating the offense, and getting shit done. He is everything that Purdue needs right now, and is on pace to become arguably the best PG in Big 10 history. Yes, look it up. Meanwhile, you have Caleb Furst and CJ Cox finding their groove. You have Colvin, Burgess, and Harris contributing off of the bench. While Purdue is far from a finished product, you can see the image of what this team projects to be.

What Went Well:

• Rebounding: The Boilermakers won the rebound margins in both of the games this week. The Mythological Hero Achilles heal of this team is a combination of rebounding and turnovers. Boilers took care of the glass this week. Also…
• 3: Turnovers against Minnesota, on the haunted/frozen/elevated/evil wood of the Barn is an incredible number. Very efficient play by the Boilers.
• Defense Lives Here: While holding opponents to 61 points in each game will win a lot of games for you, there seemed to be a visual difference in the defensive aggression. The switches, the helps, the aggression. Anytime you hold future NBA players like Barnhizer to 10 points blow his season average, you’re doing something right.

Opportunities for Improvement:

• Sleepytime Boilers: For approximately 25 minutes against Minnesota, Purdue played like they were half asleep. Maybe it was the half-empty haunted/frozen/elevated/evil wood, or the holiday hangover. Luckily they turned it on late, and ended up blowing the Gophers out. Slow starts like that against a better team could be a disaster.

Big Man on Campus:

I may sound like a broken record, but Braden Smith wins yet another BMOC award this season. His passing, his shooting, his aggression, he played nearly perfect basketball this week. Averaging 21 pts, 8.5 assists, and 6 rebounds, while only averaging 2.5 turnovers, essentially playing every meaningful minute of basketball… Yeah, that’s pretty good!

A Look Ahead:

The (as of this writing) #20 Purdue Boilermakers will head to Rutgers on Thursday 1/9 for a 6pm tip, and then return home on Sunday to take on Nebraska for a nooner on Sunday 1/12. As we all know, playing at Rutgers’ Jersey Mike’s Trapezoid of Sandwich Terror Recreational Arts Center has been a house of horrors for the Boilers the last few years. Likewise, Nebraska has already beaten a couple of ranked opponents this season, but have also inflated their record against some weak foes. Either way, the Boilermakers need to keep their eyes on the ball!

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