Purdue basketball at Creighton: 3 keys for Boilermakers in exhibition opener

WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue men’s basketball plays at Creighton for a good cause Saturday, in a charity exhibition to help Omaha area residents affected by tornadoes last April.

The No. 13 Boilermakers still expect a hostile basketball atmosphere. Welcome it, actually. Include that among the many basketball benefits potentially gained against the No. 14 Blue Jays in their arena.

Purdue assigned itself some challenging matchups away from Mackey Arena. The Big Ten Conference added several more. Might as well begin that adjustment as soon as possible for the freshmen expected to contribute this season.

“It’s showing all the young guys how it is to be on the road and being in that tough of an environment right off the bat,” third-year center Will Berg said. “It’s a good way to start it all off — set the tone and kind of see the seriousness of everything.”

Purdue believed a similar exhibition against Arkansas provided important preseason context a year ago. What else the Boilermakers can learn from the 8 p.m. tipoff at CHI Health Center:

Lineup shuffle

We know Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn will start, as they did in all 39 games last season.

Painter remained non-committal on the other two spots. He said the frontcourt has not seen much separation in practice in recent weeks. Caleb Furst started along with that established trio in last week’s first period of the Fan Day scrimmages.

So did freshman guard Gicarri Harris, whose ability to defend from his first day through the door pushed him to the top of the rotation.

Painter wrote the same starting lineup out for all 39 games last season. He seems destined to write a few different ones in the months ahead.

“I like a lot of different looks, but it kind of depends on us,” Painter said. “Kind of depends on our team. Depends on our opponent at times. We’ll see.how things go.”

Redshirt questions

Painter said he does not expect to play all scholarship 13 players at Creighton. Someone will redshirt this season — possibly…

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Author : IndyStar | The Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2024-10-25 08:40:00

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