Last night Purdue defeated Xavier by a final score of 83-71. While most fans might not find reasons to complain about winning by 12 against a team that made the sweet sixteen a year ago, I have two reasons they should. 1 – This Xavier team is completely different from last seasons team, so I would struggle to call them a sweet sixteen returning team. 2 – Purdue had many opportunities to take the lead and run with it and win this game by 20+ and they never did. Xavier ran in transition after defensive rebounds and were able to score on Purdue without allowing them to get set defensively, and stayed in the game when they probably shouldn’t have been close.

Zach Edey has a defensive prowess that can scare an entire team away from driving the ball into the post. This can eliminate a lot from a team’s offensive game plan. Yet teams continue to find ways to score the ball against Purdue. While Edey can be great defensively, he can also be very slow to get back against a transition offense. Edey goes for every single offensive rebound which often results in him losing his footing and taking another 4-5 seconds to get back on defense. When teams are able to run against that and get a 5-4 break they can get a quick shot off and usually are able to get a second chance look with an offensive board. 

Every time that an opposing team has the ability to run the court in transition, they can score with ease on Purdue if the shots are falling. I can’t count how many four on three or even five on three transitions that Xavier was able to run off a defensive rebound last night. They were able to run to the basket, and if the lane wasn’t there, they had the ability to kick out for an open three. The same thing happened against Morehead State, yet the Eagles just couldn’t hit their threes. 

For Purdue to have the success in March that we are all hoping for, they need to develop a game plan to defend the opponent in transition when Edey is lagging behind. Whether this is running a smaller lineup when Edey is on the court but then that would lead to less minutes for Trey Kaufman Renn. While Edey can get you 30 points on any given night and you can’t find any reason to have Edey on the bench any longer, they just need a plan to stop them in transition and allow the defense to get set.

#11 Gonzaga will put that to the test on Monday at 5:00pm EST when Purdue plays in the first round of the 2023 Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

Just in time for Christmas! Purdue Basketball Ornament – $16.99 (LINK)