Purdue’s Braden Smith (Chad Krockover)

After each Purdue basketball game this season, GoldandBlack.com will take a detailed look back at the contest to highlight some of its finer points.

Today, No. 1 Purdue’s 82-51 win over Evansville Tuesday night in Mackey Arena.

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PURDUE OFFENSE

Seen enough here now to suggest Purdue’s going to use its bigs in a lot of side-screen-type stuff.

Here’s Braden Smith to Oscar Cluff on a short roll.

Could be a useful mechanism to get Purdue’s guards into the paint, either for their jumpers or kickout passes.

You see that this Daniel Jacobsen screen get Omer Mayer to his pull-up, but Purdue also has Liam Murphy sliding to the corner as an option for Mayer, too, in addition to Jacobsen rolling. The Murphy action forces his man into the low man spot that must account for Jacobsen. Really hard to get creative with help since you’ve more or less cut the floor in half.

Playing off it, Fletcher Loyer is the “indirect” here, drawing defensive attention away from the direction of the play. Evansville can’t account for everthing.

OSCAR CLUFF’S PRESENCE

Precisely what Purdue was lacking last season, a big, high-motor physical presence occupying bodies and sapping peoples’ energy.

This stuff leads to possessions, put-backs and fouls both for Cluff and those around him. It’s this element that will complement Trey Kaufman-Renn well as a rebounder.

JACK BENTER AT FORWARD

Forget the shooting for a second: Jack Benter’s smarts and savvy offensively really showed up yesterday,

This is just recognition for a guy who’s never played a college basketball game.

Don’t know if Benter’s going to be a great defensive player but being smaller at the 4 has its advantages: Interchangeability.

This is quite a sequence of switches by the redshirt freshman. Just a tremendous sequence.

What’s the best time to shoot a three? Offensive rebounds.

Coaches’ kids …

RIP AND RUN

Purdue’s offensive mentality off defense is clear: Go.

This is why the rebounding piece is so crucial.

We are not going to use this space every game to overload you with redundant “Braden Smith is really special doing this” sort of stuff, but here’s one thing to highlight. The immense pressure he puts on defenses in transition. What many point guards might see as dribbling too deep Smith sees as cratering a defense to play inside-out.

It is really kind of a basketball tragedy that Purdue’s rebounding and rim-protection issues last season limited this kind of stuff.

These plays from these two are going to be iconic at Purdue.

PURDUE DEFENSE

First off, you don’t want to make too much of one game against an overmatched opponent, but Purdue played well.

Its ball pressure was good — Purdue drew at least two illegal screens — and if anything a program was again overplaying the ball, as occurred vs. Kentucky.

The center position changes Purdue.

Daniel Jacobsen will have his ups and downs as the games get more physical, but length is length and it shows up.

This is just rock-solid defense here with a sub-optimal defensive lineup out there, and it starts with Gicarri Harris on the ball before Jacobsen’s lane presence comes into play.

Nice drop defense here by Jacobsen, but the rebound escapes Purdue.

Nice team defense here by Purdue when it behooved them to protect Liam Murphy from being posted up. Purdue’s never not going to double the post.

With Cluff, it’s been interesting to see how Purdue is doing different things with him, suggesting it trusts his mobility.

He’s been in drop, he’s flattened ball screens and he’s hard hedged, which Purdue hasn’t done much of with bigger guys as to not take them out of rebounding position or expose them to fouls.

Great job on the ball here by Cox, forcing this impossible shot, an easily reboundable miss that again initiates transition.

Clearly, Purdue’s defensive problem on this night was a double-edged sword.

It forced the shots it wants opponents taking, but then struggled to secure long rebounds, or rebound around the basket with personnel you’re not going to be relying on to rebound in a few weeks.

This was kind of the story of the game in that sense. Purdue forces a horrible shot, but its backs are turned and the shooting team is facing the basket with a clearer path to a violent rebound.

This kinda sums it up.

ETC

• This looks new and is just surgical offense, with Jacobsen ghosting his screen for Smith and instead deviating to set a screen for Loyer. Not an effective screen here, but the concept is going to give opponents a lot to worry about. This can go into Smith turning down the screen and going right or Loyer going downhill and getting into a pick-and-roll with Jacobsen. If the quick-hitting shot isn’t there, there are potential 2-on-1 situations on both sides of the floor.

• Speaking of Braden Smith being special, who does this stuff remind you of?

Omer Mayer has what Smith has.

• Just highlighting great offense here.

This is a great passer throwing to a guy who can touch the ceiling, but the play is made by the clearouts made possible by having three shooters on the floor all relocating.

• One offensive area that was rough around the edges without Trey Kaufman-Renn … the ball-screen passing. Cluff and Jacobsen are different types of receivers than what Smith has had the past two season and their sweet spots are gonna be different.

Jacobsen just really needs space and a free release. He’s too long a strider and there’s not much he can do with the ball outside a few feet on these plays.

First play of the game, spacing is a bit off.

Purdue is going to use Benter as a pick-and-roll player, too, probably less for his rim-finishing potential as his ability to do a lot of different things inside-out. But short rolls for him are probably new. Can’t really tell you if this is just a bad pass or if Benter released too quick or didn’t have the proper depth. This stuff takes a lot of practice.