Upon Further Review: The defensive effort and more from Purdue's win over Northwestern

Following each Purdue basketball game this season — or at least most — GoldandBlack.com will take a closer look back at some finer points in our long-standing Upon Further Review series. Today, the 20th-ranked Boilermakers’ 79-61 win over Northwestern.

PDF: Purdue-Northwestern statistics

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(Video clips via BTN)

PURDUE DEFENSE

Matt Painter kinda was joking when he said that Purdue “overdid it” with its swarming defense on Nick Martinelli and Brooks Barnhizer.

I’m using clips here of possessions Northwestern won just to show you what Purdue was doing.

You see here that when Barnhizer comes off that initial screen to switch him onto Fletcher Loyer, pretty much every Boilermaker on the floor is looking at him. Trey Kaufman-Renn is stationed in position to help baseline, Caleb Furst is positioned to clog the lane and Braden Smith of all people has taken Matt Nicholson under the basket to allow Furst and TKR to help. If Barnhizer tries to go middle, it’s gonna be quicksand, because CJ Cox would drop down on him to trap. Long story short: These guys are basically being guarded by multiple defenders at all times.

The play here is to reverse the ball to the unaccounted-for shooter and Northwestern hits that twice.

But here’s where things flip. Pardon the bad clip here. It’s all I’ve got.

Here, Smith is accounting for the man going to the rim, but reads the play, breaks off and intercepts the skip, then makes a three at the other end for good measure. Great play by Smith as an off-ball defender.

Purdue’s intent was to crowd the two Wildcat scorers and in the best-case scenario, bait them into driving into crowds. They took the bait a number of times.

Raleigh Burgess is the baseline help here on the play Barnhizer lost his prosthetic teeth.

Northwestern scored here, but Purdue seems to have done everything right, starting with the angle Cox takes defending the post, steering Barnhizer into either Furst or the end line. Look how quick to the ball Purdue is and how purposeful everything is. This is how you want Northwestern having to score.

Same here.

This is perfect, from Furst’s help to Myles Colvin‘s closeout to Gicarri Harris‘ rebound. And Furst taking away with the cut to the basket on this designed play.

Effort was a huge part of this. Bear with us here on this clip dump.

Great hustle here by Harris getting back on D.

Same for Smith here, followed by a hell of a hustle play by TKR, leading to the second of his putback dunks in transition.

Colvin destroys this handoff on this inbound, after switching onto the inbounder.

Nice closeout here by Cox, forcing Barnhizer into help. Barnhizer needs to pass out of this, but Purdue really seemed to speed him up.

BRADEN SMITH AND TKR

A quick observation that I’d like to confirm was purposeful, but sure seemed like it: Purdue was setting its ball screen higher. The effect there would be to stretch Northwestern a bit more from baseline to three-point line and make slower big guys have to cover more ground to jump out to Trey Kaufman-Renn on his short roll.

The high screen gives Braden Smith more runway too to attack dropping defenders.

Now, again, these really important plays made by TKR passing out of his short roll has been a real area of growth lately for the offense. These are not easy plays for big men and not normally natural plays for big men.

Then this.

Smith has been an absolute wizard with these pocket passes not just in making the passes but in setting and resetting his angles to make them.

MISC

• Just pointing this out because this was frequent and part of a broader theme of what people are starting to do to Kaufman-Renn.

You can’t push the screener into the play.

Not just TKR either.

I’m not sure what happened to TKR on this roll, whether this is Martinelli hitting him, Martinelli pushing Loyer into him or just bad spacing on Purdue’s part.

• I rag on Northwestern a lot for being dirty tricksters, but I don’t know who’s fouling who here, whether Matt Nicholson is clearing out Furst or Furst is holding Nicholson, who has a history of getting roll-man dunks against Purdue (albeit with Boo Buie).

Nevertheless, this is some sequence from Furst.

• Assist of the year?