-
Myron Medcalf, ESPN Staff Writer
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Matt Painter is not naive about the task his Purdue team will face when it plays UConn on Monday night in the national championship game at State Farm Stadium.
The Huskies have accrued a plus-125 point differential in the NCAA tournament, the second-best margin in NCAA tournament history behind the 1998-99 Duke team that lost to UConn in the national title game that season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Painter said his team must play an efficient game against an opponent that pounces when it senses weakness.
“What they do a great job of is when blood is in the water,” Painter said on Saturday. “When you show weakness or you turn your back on pressure, you dribble in place, you leave your feet, you don’t play on two feet, those guys are the best in the business. They will make you pay. … That’s our challenge, is (to) handle pressure, take care of the basketball, make good decisions. They’ll get into you. They’re solid. But they’re just waiting for you to do something stupid. Don’t do something stupid.”
Since the team’s performance against Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 — 136 points per 100 possessions, 45 percent from beyond the arc — the Boilermakers have had to overcome a couple of rocky performances to reach this stage. Against Tennessee in the Elite Eight, Purdue (top-3 nationally in 3-point shooting) finished 3-for-15 from beyond the arc. In Saturday’s win over NC State, Purdue committed turnovers on 25 percent of its possessions (16 total). Those challenges will hurt the Boilermakers Monday if they continue, Painter said.
“You have to be on your P’s and Q’s,” he said. “You’ve got to take care of the basketball. You’ve got to be able to rebound, be good in transition. If you take bad shots and you turn the ball over, you’re in deep trouble. It’s a quick 2 or a quick 3 for them. They’re probably the best I’ve seen in a long, long time in being able to take your mistake and make you pay for it at times when you make mistakes. Other teams are probably going to make you pay, but it’s just not automatic. It just seems, once that happens, it’s automatic (for UConn). You can’t have those types of turnovers and those types of bad shots.”
Purdue has also enjoyed, however, a dominant run this season. Zach Edey is on his way to winning back-to-back Wooden Awards. The team’s 3-point shooting has been elite and the Boilermakers are also playing top-15 defense.
But the Huskies have manufactured an historic NCAA tournament that can end with just the second back-to-back national title run in more than 30 years. Alabama made 73 percent of its 3-point attempts in the first half against UConn on Saturday and the game was tied, 56-56, with 12:05 to play. Then, the Huskies finished the matchup with a 30-16 run and won by double digits.
“They understand what we’re up against,” Painter said. “They understand we haven’t played anybody like UConn. They’re not fools. We have cable where we’re from. We’re very familiar.”