What can NC State learn from Rutgers upset of #1 Purdue? A lot, actually.

NC State takes on pissed-off #1 Purdue team on Sunday.

The Boilermakers lost on a buzzer-beater to Rutgers last night (who was without their 3rd leading scorer), in what was an amazing basketball game. We rewatched the full game, but you can watch the full game highlights below to get a feel.

So what can NC State learn from the way Rutgers dealt with Purdue? Is there a way they can replicate this outcome?

The answer is yes, but it’s not going to be easy.

The bigs are going to have their way. Let them.

Purdue is huge. They have senior Trevion Williams (a 6’10, 255lb monster) who is going off lately. He’s a back-to-the-basket beast who knows how to use his body and has great touch around the basket. He’s a rebounding machine and is going to be a huge mismatch for the Pack. He had 21 points and 11 boards in this one.

They also have the 7’4, 295lb Zach Edey who is averaging 15 points and 7 boards per game and put up 13 and 6 in this one.

So NC State is going to be severely overmatched in the middle. How Keatts deals with that will be interesting. Rutgers actually just played them straight up and as you can see by the final stats, they got handled down low and outrebounded 35-27 overall and 16-5 on the offensive glass. But they were willing to let this happen because they had another plan…

Take away the 3 ball

You really can’t double down because Purdue has so many weapons. They shoot 42% from 3…AS A TEAM! Note that Scott Wood shot about 42% for his NC State career. That’s how good they shoot it.

Now, they shoot it that well because most teams are forced to drop defenders down to help in the post, leaving the Purdue shooters wide open. And shooting 42% from 3, when no one is on you, is good, but not some amazing feat.

So Rutgers basically gambled on letting the bigs have their way, and did their best to take away the 3. They did this, forcing Purdue to shoot just 27% from long range.

Limit Jaden Ivey’s shots

Rutgers did a great job not allowing Ivey to shoot for real volume. They were on him as much as possible and made it very difficult for him to find his shot. Now, he’s an absolutely elite guard, so he will find his shot, but they did limit him to only 9 attempts (he was 5-9). The Boilermakers want Ivey to get about 13-17 shots. So Rutgers did a good job of keeping that volume low.

Share the basketball

One of the keys to Rutgers win was that they shared the ball. A lot. There was not a lot of one on one play and if NC State thinks they can do that against this Purdue team, they’ll get murdered. This is going to have to be the first game of the season where the Wolfpack really moves the basketball. Rutgers had 18 assists to Purdue’s 10.

Shoot the best you’ve ever shot

So all of this is great and all, but Purdue is going to score no matter what, so you’ll be forced to score with them. Rutgers is a lot like NC State in that they aren’t big and lumbering, and are more of a versatile team full of athletes and interchangeable pieces. However, they shot it SO well in this game.

The Scarlet Knights shot an insane 52% from the floor and 50% from 3 point range (7-14). They also had a 30 point game from their leader Ron Harper Jr (a 6’6 senior who can shoot).

So for NC State to replicate this here is the recipe: 

• Don’t collapse down on the bigs, even though they are going to try to ram it down our throats.
• Be laser-focused on not allowing open 3 pointers. Again, not collapsing is key.
• Limit looks for Jaden Ivey and stop him in transition.
• Shoot lights out all night long from the floor and from the 3.
• They have great bigs and great guards, but they lack a versatile stopper for a guy like Seabron.
• You could see that in their inability to stop Ron Harper Jr.
• Have Morsell available and going at 100%. Have him lock down Ivey.
• Get great shooting games from Hellems, Hayes, and Smith.
• Somehow get Seabron off, even though the Purdue bigs are elite rim protectors

And really, that’s it. Pretty simple, right?