Purdue basketball's offense has nose dived. What are the reasons behind it?

Purdue basketball’s offense has nose dived. What are the reasons behind it?

Posted by author December 28, 2024 Basketball

Spread the love

WEST LAFAYETTE − That Purdue basketball offense that began the season blitzing teams has suddenly lost its potent punch.

Defenses are neutralizing Braden Smith, forcing the ball out of the Boilermaker point guard’s hands.

They’ve keyed in on Trey Kaufman-Renn and teams are running Purdue’s shooters off the 3-point line.

Five times in its last eight games, Purdue has scored 71 points or fewer.

“How are we going to counter that? How are we going to get better at making plays for one another and not just relying on Braden and Trey (Kaufman-Renn) pick and roll,” Purdue junior Fletcher Loyer said after last Saturday’s loss to Auburn, Purdue’s third setback in its last four games.

The safe haven of Mackey Arena and a Sunday night game with Toledo, a team limping into West Lafayette having lost four of its last five, ideally should offset some of the recent woes prior to the start of Big Ten play next week.

It’s the last chance before games start to count towards defending Purdue’s back-to-back Big Ten titles. Why has Purdue’s offense seemingly dipped?

Purdue basketball’s turnover woes

The Boilermakers can pride themselves on taking care of the basketball against Alabama, North Carolina State and Maryland.

In those three victories, Purdue had a total of 17 turnovers.

But for the most part this season, the Boilermakers have proven to be a turnover prone squad.

Purdue averages 12.3 turnovers per game. In December, Purdue has 59 assists and 60 turnovers. That includes the win over Maryland where Purdue was plus five in the assists category.

Purdue basketball’s Braden Smith on Auburn loss

Hear what Purdue point guard Braden Smith said after the Boilermakers lost to Auburn.

Purdue’s 3-point efficiency dip

Last season, the Boilermakers were the second most efficient 3-point shooting team in college basketball.

Zach Edey helped.

But this roster is still built on above average outside shooters and Purdue’s offensive success is still reliant on being able to bank on 3-pointers.

Through the season’s first four games, the Boilers proved that was still a strength. After four games, Purdue was shooting 46% from 3 and averaging 10 makes per game.

Since, Purdue has shot 38.1% or lower from 3 in all but one game, when the Boilermakers made 10 of 22 from beyond the arc against Ole Miss in the championship game of the Rady Children’s Invitational.

Purdue still ranks 17th in the nation in 3-point percentage, but its first four games are carrying the weight. Its 39.6% clip isn’t that far off from last season’s final mark of 40.4%.

Purdue’s schedule

In December, Purdue has faced three teams ranked in the top 20 in defensive efficiency.

The good news? Purdue closes the month with a Toledo team ranked 315th.

The bad news? The Big Ten is home to eight teams in the top 48 in the nation currently in defensive efficiency.

Free throw failures

Shield your eyes for this one.

Purdue ranks 165th in free throw percentage. After years of living at the free throw line and piling up points at the charity stripe, the Boilers are 107th nationally in free throw attempts and failing to capitalize on the ones they do get.

Purdue has shot better than 80% as a team from the line just once this season, going 9-for-10 against Texas A&M. Purdue’s most fouled player, Kaufman-Renn, is 48 of 80 this season.

Scoring beyond the big three

Returning three starters from a Final Four team was a positive.

But beyond Kaufman-Renn, Loyer and Smith, Purdue has lacked a consistent fourth scorer. That’s fine minus the instances Purdue has lacked a fourth scorer at all.

Myles Colvin, Cam Heide and CJ Cox all have shown ability to score but have been just as likely to be nonexistent in the offensive box score.

Purdue three junior starters account for 54% of Purdue’s scoring this season. The trio of Kaufman-Renn, Smith and Loyer are averaging a cumulative 44.2 points per game. The rest of the roster combines for 32.3.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.