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Purdue basketball 'did good things' against Gonzaga, even if results didn't show
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- Purdue basketball 'did good things' against Gonzaga, even if results didn't show
LAS VEGAS — For all the talk about Purdue basketball 's offseason of change, let's not forget which truths remain non-negotiable.
The Boilermakers still need a reliable, efficient low-post scoring presence. Daniel Jacobsen showed one off Monday night against Gonzaga , tossing one hook shot after another over one of the country's best frontcourts.
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They also need potent, confident perimeter shooting to augment that interior performance. Too many of those shots tumbled off into the void of T-Mobile Arena – enough to leave Purdue on the wrong end of a 78-72 season-opening loss in the TNT Hall of Fame Series at T-Mobile Arena.
When those concepts sync up – and "when" still seems the correct term rather than "if" − this team will beat teams the caliber of the Bulldogs. It nearly pulled off an Ocean's 11-esque caper anyway, storming back from down 11 with under six minutes to play to pull within 2. Then it airballed a couple of open 3s, Gonzaga piled up free throws and Purdue lost a season opener for the first time since a 2013 home loss to Bucknell.
Across those 13 years, the program rose to a place where even losing by six to a top-15 opponent on a neutral court feels more like a missed opportunity than an affirmation of potential. Obviously, it can be both.
Daniel Jacobsen thrived as Purdue's centerpiece, even through foul trouble
Jacobsen tops the list of those with the most to gain from an expanded opportunity this season. He nearly made the most of it Monday.
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Gonzaga started 7-foot-1 center Massamba Diop and also ran a couple of 6-10 forwards – Braden Huff and Izan Almansa – through the post as well. The Bulldogs went right at Jacobsen early, and he turned away those attempts to put him in early foul trouble.
Then he went to work as the offensive fulcrum he's been waiting to be since that broken leg bone in the second game of his freshman year. He quickly became the only source of certainty on that end of the floor – scoring from multiple angles in the paint and finding teammates for a couple of assists as Purdue retook the lead late in the first half.
He finished with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting and looked more than comfortable against that talented and deep frontcourt. The third-year center had not played with this much assurance in a game which counted in some time. It may be the last time for a while he goes an entire night without seeing a double team.
"I gotta be honest, I was surprised just how good he was, how tough he was," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "Man, that jump hook even out to like 10 or 12 feet was − I mean, that's amazing."
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Jacobsen played a career-high 27 minutes, but likely cost himself a couple more when he picked up fouls No. 2 and 3 in rapid succession in the first four minutes of the second half. Then came No. 4, with 12:51 to play.
Jacobsen's absences were conspicuous at times as Purdue tried to find the same offensive flow without him. Enzo Shahrvin , still getting up to speed offensively, turned the ball over four times in eight minutes. Raleigh Burgess held his own better in Jacobsen's second-half stretches of foul maintenance.
The 40-minute center experience must continue to evolve and develop. If Jacobsen uses his portion as well as he did Monday, though, there is less urgency for his backups to steal more minutes. He positioned himself as next in line for centerpiece status and staked an emphatic claim Monday night in the desert.
"I had the same confidence coming in," Jacobsen said. "Having a good game is nice, but, like, just looking forward to keeping it going."
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Jacobsen's efficiency is one reason why Purdue strayed from even attempting 3-pointers after halftime. It attempted only two in the first 14-plus minutes of the second half. Then Gicarri Harris made one from the corner while taking contact, got up and hit the free throw.
What had been an 11-point hole when he elevated became a seven-point deficit when he completed the four-point play.
It was one of the few moments of perimeter success – and the last.
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Jacobsen made four consecutive free throws to cut the difference to four points. Then he grabbed a rebound leading to an Antione West Jr. jumper at the other end. With 3:07 to play, Purdue had pulled within 68-66, and the pro-Boiler portion of the crowd got loud.
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Then, a defensive stop at the other end, but Harris' drive to the basket yielded nothing. Two possessions later, Harris airballed a 3. So did Cox, 30 seconds after that. Purdue's only field goal in the final three minutes came when Caden Pierce put back a missed 3 by Omer Mayer .
Purdue shot 23.8% from the field, which only looks good compared to the 8% misery against UConn in Hartford last week. Those late airballs were not the only ones of the night which took an abstract trajectory to the basket. That trend traced back to the exhibition win over Purdue Fort Wayne, where a solid percentage overshadowed some ugly misses.
The 10-man rotation Matt Painter played Monday does not include a spot-up savant such as Fletcher Loyer or a certified off-the-dribble marksman such as Braden Smith. It does, however, feature several players who are at worst solid 3-point artists. Shooting ability from all five spots should be a strength, and remains one in theory.
Painter, without the benefit of film review, openly questioned the concentration at hand on some of those misses. Unlike the UConn game, though, he did not come away already certain a handful of shots were poor decisions from the time they left the shooter's hand.
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"Our guys have to stay with what they're doing, because they executed," Painter said. "A lot of times when you shoot air balls, you have bad misses. It's like, 'Hey man, don't take that shot. Like, what the hell are you doing?'
"This wasn't. Our guys did good things."
Purdue felt immediate remorse about other aspects. Jacobsen's fouls were not the only costly ones, as Gonzaga's 26-for-34 night at the line was underway before late-game fouls began to pile up. Losing the second-chance battle 11-4 looms large in a six-point loss.
The upshot is the team left Vegas with more evidence of what it can become – and some runway ahead before it faces another challenge the likes of Gonzaga.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue basketball 'did good things' against Gonzaga, even if results didn't show
