Purdue maturity showed up in convincing victory at Marquette

MILWAUKEE — Before beginning the formal discussion of Purdue's 86-71 victory over Marquette, Dakota Mathias couldn't resist a big brotherly dig.

"Did you guys see Grady's air ball? Say something to him," Mathias said, knowing (or hoping) junior forward Grady Eifert remained within earshot.

Such moments of levity play well after an emphatic victory. The air ball to which Mathias referred ended up lost in Eifert's gutsy 24-minute performance to offset Vincent Edwards' foul trouble.

Purdue expected a more adverse path to victory at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Wednesday. Edwards' early foul trouble — followed soon after by Isaac Haas and Mathias hitting the bench for the same reason — started it off. Then came 28 minutes without a made 3-pointer, eight first-half turnovers and Marquette's Markus Howard and Andrew Rowsey seemingly daring each other to drain one tough 3-pointer after another.

Purdue couldn't rely on talent alone to overcome all of that. This was, quite simply, a mature victory. A veteran team looked at a potential landmine, stepped over it and calmly walked to the locker room to celebrate.

"We really emphasized closing this out with our seniors leading us," Eifert said. "We definitely showed a maturity."

When Purdue most needed a veteran presence to exert itself, Haas stepped up.

The 7-foot-2 center looked as if he might get into a groove early, but picked up his second foul with 7:41 remaining in the first half. Understudy Matt Haarms capably filled in, but didn't exert the same low-post dominance as Haas.

When Haas returned to begin the second half, Marquette stubbornly refused to bring the customary double team to defend him. He ditched his "back of tricks" — Matt Painter's derisive term for Haas' occasional tendency to get too fancy with the ball — and opted for a direct, overwhelming approach.

Haas scored eight points in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second half. He finished with 22 points in 20 minutes — fouling out Marquette center Matt Holba in the process.

PURDUE BASKETBALL:Grady Eifert seizing unexpected opportunity

When the Golden Eagles gave up and started doubling, Haas summoned one of his better passing performances. Credited with only two assists, Haas lost some would-be assists to desperation fouls. He served a pivotal role in the Boilermakers' second-half ball movement.

"That's just finding the opening guy, listening, being attentive to what's going on on the court, having court awareness," Haas said. "That’s stuff that comes with maturity and understanding the game and playing the game for so long.

"Those guys came way too early and it was a simple, easy pass to Grady or Vince. It opened things up for them and opening things up for our team."

Vincent Edwards picked up a third foul only 73 seconds into the second half. When he returned, he briefly became the hot hand for Purdue. He scored six points over a span of four possessions before a fourth foul brought Eifert back to the floor.

In their younger years, some of the same Boilermakers drew Painter's ire for passing up chances to feed those mismatches down low.

"We're older, we're experienced, and we see that a little quicker than we might have in the past," Mathias said. "When it's working, you don't want to play with it, so we kept giving them the ball."

After a sloppy first half, Purdue turned the ball over only three times in the second half. By avoiding transition scenarios, the Boilermakers could set a defense against one of the best 3-point shooting teams they'll see.

Howard and Rowsey combined for 49 points and hit four 3s apiece — many of them over or through a defender's reach. Yet Purdue always seemingly had an answer, beginning with Mathias' 3-pointer with 12:52 to play. That broke Purdue's 0-for-7 start from behind the arc.

As this group has shown in the past, one make can sometimes lift the lid. The Boilermakers waited out the slump and made four of their last five from long range.

Tuesday's win won't headline Purdue's eventual NCAA resume, but it should feature prominently on it. The Golden Eagles could end up back in the NCAA Tournament themselves. Road wins such as this one in Milwaukee remain relatively scarce.

The Boilermakers' extensive summer experience with the World University Games gave them a leg up in preparation on their peers. Perhaps that played a role Tuesday as well.

More than anything, this was four years of poise and confidence coming together. Purdue should be enthused that marriage occurred so early in the season.