Painter: Penn State Wasn’t Even at It’s Best in Statement Win

Penn State basketball beat No. 8 Purdue by 81-70 Thursday night despite not playing its best game, per Purdue coach Matt Painter.

Most assumed that for Penn State to get a win over the Big Ten’s flagship program— let alone in dominant fashion— it would need to be at its best.

For Painter, Penn State was good— even great from a defensive standpoint— but the team beat Purdue without putting its best game together.

“I thought they were pretty good,” Painter said after the game. “I thought Ace Baldwin did a really good job of trying to disrupt Braden (Smith), pushing him out and doing things… I thought they did a fantastic job. Give them all the credit in the world…”

“In the first half, I didn’t think they were great. I thought if they would have been great, the game would have been over then.”

‘TIME TO PLAY HARD’

Painter’s mentor at Purdue, Gene Keady, had a catchphrase:

“Time to play hard.”

Those four words are above Purdue’s tunnel at Mackey Arena.

Well, for Painter, his players didn’t live out that mantra against Penn State.

“If we were in the front line of a war just now, we’d all be dead,” Painter said. “Our fight wasn’t even close to Penn State’s fight. It wasn’t even close. Remotely close. They (Penn State) played good, they played great defensively. But they were just OK offensively. They’ve had way better games than this right here. Look at the shooting percentage. It was good, it wasn’t great.”

PAINTER HAS A GOOD POINT

Ace Baldwin Jr. led Penn State with a 20-point, 11-assist double-double against Clemson. Photo via Penn State Athletics.

To Painter’s point, Penn State has had better nights offensively.

The team has scored 100 or more points three times and scored at least 90 four through nine games.

Only once has it scored less than 81 points.

Penn State shot a pedestrian 48.9% from the field and went 7-for-18 from 3. So overall, yes, Penn State basketball could have played a more complete game against Purdue, which should scare the rest of the Big Ten.

Penn State’s next game is Tuesday, Dec. 10 at Rutgers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 on Peacock.