BASKETBALL

Purdue continues search for offensive balance after wasting Edwards' 40 at Texas

The Boilermakers found out at Texas that even when Carsen Edwards scores 40, the rest of the offense isn't executing well enough to win.

Nathan Baird
Journal & Courier
  • Saturday's game: Purdue vs. Notre Dame in Crossroads Classic, 1:30 p.m., CBS
  • Carsen Edwards scored 40 points on 15 of 26 shooting with three assists and a turnover.
  • The rest of Purdue's team shot 30.8 percent from the field and 2-for-4 at the free throw line.
  • The Boilermakers could not make enough shots to take advantage of a 15-6 edge in turnovers.

AUSTIN, Texas — So much of what happened in Texas' Erwin Center on Sunday must have matched Carsen Edwards' best expectations.

In front of a few dozen friends and family, 17 NBA scouts and a noticeable segment of Purdue fans in the visiting crowd, Edwards summoned one of his most brilliant scoring performances. He spit 3-pointers in the face of some defenders, and stormed or glided past others for layups. Every time the Longhorns seemed poised to extend a lead, Edwards dragged Purdue back within a possession, then into the lead.

He had to, because the rest of the Boilermakers offense never really got on track Sunday night. A frigid first half from the perimeter, with no consistent counter-punch inside, resulted in a third consecutive game under 70 points.

Purdue already knew it faced serious problems on any night an opponent could shut down or even limit Edwards. It couldn't have thought it would still be this vulnerable when he tied a career high with 40 points. While Texas played above expectations offensively en route to a 72-68 victory, the Boilermakers continued their search for anything resembling consistent offense from the rest of their rotation.

"We've got to help Carsen out," senior guard Ryan Cline said. "Obviously shots just weren't falling tonight."

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Coming out of Purdue's loss at Michigan on Dec. 1, Edwards needed to play better. Between all of the shots he took and all of the possessions ending in free throws and turnovers, he consumed so much of the offense that the Boilermakers could not stomach his inefficiency.

Painter, in his third season of jostling with the conundrum of needing Edwards to keep his scoring mindset to most effectively facilitate for his teammates, asked for better decisions.

Edwards responded in Thursday's win over Maryland, offsetting his 4-for-15 shooting night by hitting all eight of his free throws. He looked less frantic, and less like he was accepting too much of the burden himself. 

Sunday, he not only accepted it, he thrived with it.

Purdue trailed 36-31 at halftime, and Edwards scored seven straight points to start the second half. When Texas opened a 55-49 lead with 8:28 to play, Edwards scored eight straight points to put the Boilermakers back on top. When the Longhorns led 69-65 with under a minute to play and could possibly seal it with one more stop, Edwards stung a 3 from the top of the key.

He made 10 of 15 shots overall in the second half, 6 of 9 from 3. The Boilermakers broke a three-game streak of finishing under 1.0 points possession — they reached 1.015 — almost solely on the strength of Edwards' final 20 minutes.

So what else went wrong?

It seems trite to mention that Purdue missed some shots it normally makes and Texas made some it usually does not. It happened Sunday to such a degree that it bears citation. Purdue came in shooting nearly 39 percent and barely cracked 28 percent. Texas came in shooting about 29 percent behind the arc and proceeded to make Steve Kerr jealous.

However, Purdue also only shot 41 percent from inside the arc in the first half. At the start of both halves it went inside to buckets by Matt Haarms. He scored 10 points, but Evan Boudreaux — in a three-game funk after such a promising start to the season — couldn't contribute much else to the production at the 5.

Cline missed all six of his 3-point attempts against Maryland. He missed his first seven Sunday, then nearly redeemed himself with a big one with 2:04 to play. He said after the game he couldn't pinpoint any specific reason for the funk.

Grady Eifert, who grabbed two huge rebounds to keep one late possession alive, didn't take a shot in 21 minutes. Nojel Eastern's range remains limited. The Longhorns bench outscore Purdue's 32-7.

Texas defended well, as it remains the foundation of the program. But the rest of the Boilermakers outside of Edwards totaled 28 points on 39 field goal attempts.

Haarms said Painter talked at halftime about Purdue needing to live in the paint and visit the 3-point line, as opposed to the opposite approach which dominated the first half. A 15-5 free throw discrepancy in Texas' favor ultimately decided the game.

"You have to get a balance of things," Painter said. "We need to get to the free throw line, whether we're driving the basketball. We've got to get into the bonus. If you never get into the bonus in a game, it's hard to generate a lot of points. You can still score, but it's really difficult. I think that was probably the difference in the game."

Asked after the game why he didn't recruit Edwards out of Atascocita High School — about three hours north in suburban Houston — Texas coach Shaka Smart barked out a single laugh. He'd been expecting the question.

Edwards played on a loaded Houston Hoops AAU team, alongside another bona fide star, De'Aaron Fox. The shorter, less heralded Edwards simply didn't show up as brightly on mean teams' radars.

"I had a word with Carsen after the game about that that I'll keep between us," Smart said.

Purdue wanted Edwards. They wanted him to more or less be exactly what he has become — a high-volume shooter with the upside to erupt for nights such as Sunday. 

It may only have him for another 25 games or so. Considering the challenges ahead in the Big Ten Conference season — including road trips to Michigan State, Wisconsin and Ohio State in a 15-day span of January — the Boilermakers can't wait much longer for the supporting cast to emerge.

Edwards' 40-point performance was the third by a visitor at the Erwin Center. Kansas State's Denis Clemente needed overtime to score 44 in 2009. Houston's Rob Williams scored his 40 back in 1981.

The big difference between their performance and the one Edwards dropped Sunday night? Their teams won.

Purdue already wasted one night when Edwards was so electric that he could — almost — cover up the rest of the offense's flaws.

How many more of those performances can the Boilermakers reasonably expect?

Contact Journal & Courier Purdue sports reporter Nathan Baird at nbaird@jconline.com or 765-420-5234. Follow him on Twitter: @nbairdjc