Losing No. 1 ranking to Arizona proved just a bump on Purdue's road to title game

Not this season, anyhow. The Boilermakers, after a summer of hearing about their 63-58 loss to 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023, mowed through an early schedule that included Xavier, Gonzaga, Tennessee, and Marquette to reach 7-0 and gain the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll in November.

Then, after the Boilermakers coughed up 17 turnovers in a Dec. 1 loss at Northwestern that left the door open for Arizona to take the No. 1 ranking, they just shrugged and won seven more straight games.

“I think that’s what’s so good about our team,” guard Fletcher Loyer said. “I think every loss this season it’s all of us saying `F — it.’ We know exactly what we can control. We’re gonna go into practice, we’re gonna get better. We’re gonna fix those small things.

“I don’t know why I haven’t said this to the media but that’s the difference. After each loss we know in the back of our minds that we’re the best team in the country.”

Dec. 16 was among those days when the Boilermakers made their case. Arizona came into Indianapolis that day unbeaten and with the No. 1 ranking, but the Boilermakers won 92-84 and were back atop the poll two days later.

Among the converted believers was guard Lance Jones, a transfer from Southern Illinois.

“With them being No. 1 at that time and it being a dogfight, I kind of realized that I’m on a damn good team,” Purdue guard Lance Jones said of the UA game. “I think everybody stuck together through the adversity.”

There was no wavering. They didn’t view it as a choice. Purdue will play in the NCAA title game Monday against UConn (36-3) in part because the Boilermakers (34-4) found a different form of determination and resiliency after the FDU loss.

It was a new concept to Jones, but not to just about everyone else on the roster. The Boilermakers rank 11th nationally in Kenpom’s “minutes continuity” metric, which measures what percentage of a team’s minutes are played by the same player from the previous to current season.

They brought back minutes, and memories. Then they refined their ways, finding more and more ways to do it, with coach Matt Painter adding Jones from the transfer portal while sprinkling more and more perimeter offense around center Zach Edey as needed.

“I thought we were there last year,” point guard Braden Smith said. “Me and Fletch were just trying to play a role, and I think last year the focus was a lot on on Z and we didn’t realize what we could do to help more. This year, we’re realizing `Hey, if we score more like it’s gonna make Zach’s life so much easier.”

The Boilermakers went from having a below-average 3-point percentage (32.2 last year) to becoming the second-best 3-point shooting percentage team in the country (40.6) this season, hitting open shots when defenses stick too closely to Edey and also hitting some tough ones that can pull them away from the post.

The 3s can also help the Boilermakers clean up other mistakes. On Saturday, in Purdue’s 63-50 national semifinal win over N.C. State, Jones added 14 points and Loyer scored another 11 while Edey was “held” under his averages with 20 points and 12 rebounds — and the Boilermakers had 16 turnovers.

On Dec. 16, it was Loyer scoring 27 points while hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers, and Smith scoring 26 while hitting 4 of 7 3-pointers in a game where the Wildcats also kept Edey somewhat in check with 22 points and nine rebounds — and had Caleb Love pouring in 29 points on the other end.

Either way, the Boilermakers didn’t flinch.

“Arizona was a great team. Obviously, going in, you’re playing the No. 1 team in the country,” Loyer said. “But in the back of our minds, we knew we’re a No. 1 team. We knew we can beat anybody.

“That was real a fun game, but I think that also just gives us confidence moving forward. We can win a game either way — whether it’s Braden or me having 25 points or Zach having 40. It’s knowing we can handle different situations.”

UConn is expected to beat Purdue on Monday for its second straight national championship, but the Boilermakers’ increased versatility is, if nothing else, making the game plan a little more difficult for Huskies coach Dan Hurley.

Single coverage on Edey, Hurley said, “is scary.” But so is double coverage.

“I don’t think that one thing is going to work in this game,” Hurley said. “Matt, unfortunately for us, really constructed a great roster around such a unique player.

“Obviously the blind spot for them last year was subpar 3-point shooting, which allowed you to surround (Edey). Now if you put two on the ball with him, you’re now turning loose a team that’s shooting 40% from three.”

Basically, it’s an improved facet of what fourth-year Purdue forward Mason Gillis calls the same foundation.

“Over the past two years we are big-picture the same team, but there’s a lot of small changes we’ve made, whether that’s offensive or defensive schemes,” Gillis said. “But our mentality is to always go out with confidence, give each other confidence, give each other trust.

“Obviously, with the (FDU) loss last year we were upset. But we knew we were going to be back. We truly believed. We weren’t just talking. We were preparing all year to be sitting in the position we’re sitting in.”