Crossroads Classic: Butler versus Purdue Saturday, December 16 2017 Matt Painter P.J. Thompson Vincent Edwards Carsen Edwards Purdue Boilermakers Purdue - 82, Butler - 67 Q. Really for anyone who wants to take it. Let's talk about the defensive tone. What was the approach? Why did you think you were able to so effectively build that lead in that first half? P.J. THOMPSON: I thought we executed our game plan. We knew they had really good guard play. Jorgensen can really shoot the ball. He didn't get going until late. I thought we did a good job on him until late. He was 5 for 19. I thought we pressured him and made things difficult. Same with Kelan Martin. I thought we really stuck to our game plan and really executed. Q. You guys had all five starters in double figures. That's not the first time this year that you guys have done that. What do you think about the way you guys are sharing the basketball and kind of using a multi-facetted scoring approach? VINCENT EDWARDS: It makes the game easier when guys are attacking and the shot is falling. It's contagious. When the shot is falling, the next person gets going. It comes from sharing the ball. We've been playing with each other for a while now. Coming with chemistry, and we just got to keep going. Q. Carsen, with the way you guys have played for the majority of the season, you guys have looked pretty consistently solid. You had the two losses in the Bahamas. As we reach this point near the end of the nonconference schedule, I wanted to ask you how your team has adjusted and thrived after losing a player the caliber of Caleb? CARSEN EDWARDS: It's hard to replace a guy like Caleb. We just come into every game just working hard, just listen to our coaches and the scouting reports and things like that. We practice hard every day. We just come together and just play, play hard, and try to come out with the win. Q. Just for whoever wants it, you guys were the highest scoring team in the Big Ten last year, obviously, got a lot of notoriety for your three-point shooting and stuff like that. Just how did you get to the point here where you're winning games so decisively with defense? P.J. THOMPSON: I think we learned from our mistakes. We know we can score the ball with anybody in the country. We can really score at a high level. But what's going to separate us and allow us to be really successful throughout the rest of the season and in the postseason is defense. I think we assured that up from when we were in the Bahamas because we knew we could outscore those teams. We didn't come ready to play defensively, and it kind of bit us. We really -- I mean, we've really toned it up defensively. I think we've gotten a lot better, as you guys can tell, throughout the season, and I think there's still room to improve. Q. Aside from the defense, was there anything else in particular that you guys didn't do well in the Bahama tournament that you've done well since? I mean, you've beaten these guys, Arizona, Louisville, et cetera. VINCENT EDWARDS: I would just say, like you said, in the Bahamas, we just didn't do what we did today. Following our scouting report and playing with a sense of urgency, our preparation for each game has been better and better as time goes on. As you can tell, we've been coming out read. I think that's good on our part. Our coaches really challenged us, as time went on, after those two losses in the Bahamas. So we responded well, and we've been ready. Q. A few of you guys last year and Matt last year talked about maybe the emphasis shifting a little bit more toward containment. I don't want to say being a little more passive, but being a little more containment-oriented. Is it different this year in terms of what you guys are trying to do from a pressure perspective that you can have a game like this where you pressure the way you did in the first half? VINCENT EDWARDS: When you've got guys like this sitting next to me, P.J. and Carsen, they really get up and pressure the ball. Dakota is a good defender. And you've got guys that can protect the rim like Matt and Isaac. It makes it easier for the perimeter players to be up and pressure a little bit. Even when Matt comes in, to have a shot blocker like Matt, it makes you a little more comfortable when you're out there pressuring. I think that's what kind of changed the dynamic a little bit. Other than that, it's just been us working and practicing and pushing each other and making each other better every day. That's what's made us better this year too. Q. Carsen, do you feel like you're defending better as the season goes along, and how does that help you use your speed as you were using it as a weapon today? CARSEN EDWARDS: I mean, I hope my defense is getting better. I'm going to keep working and following the scouting report and things like that. I hope, if I'm able to play good defense and things like that, hopefully, it will turn into offense and get in transition, but also pressure the ball and get deflections and things like that. Q. Do you feel like there was anything about your style of play down the stretch that helped Butler get into that -- make that start of that comeback that they never finished? VINCENT EDWARDS: Basketball is a game of runs. We just got comfortable a little bit and didn't keep that fight that we had early on. So that was on us to grow and mature as a team. Every game you know it's coming. Someone's going to make a run, but can you withstand that run and hold on to the league and take care of the ball when it's crunch time? Adversity hit us a little bit, and I think we showed that we can be mature and take it and still be able to execute down the stretch. Q. Just for everyone to answer, actually, Carsen, since you made one of them, just how important was it to make those two early threes in the second half? Obviously, after you got some momentum going into halftime, you wanted to start well. To be able to make those two shots early seemed really significant. CARSEN EDWARDS: Yeah, I mean, it's always good to see a three ball fall, to be able to hit one of those and kind of stretch the defense a little more. And then we can go inside and let guys like Vince and Isaac get in the paint and things like that. So it's good to see those fall. But always when a three falls, you're able to stretch the defense out more, so we can get into the lane and things like that, get to the basket, fouls, free throws, things like that. Q. Vincent, P.J., Butler's kind of had your number. It's been a long time since you guys have beaten them. Is it a little extra meaning getting this one, especially here? P.J. THOMPSON: Yeah, definitely. I'll definitely have my last collegiate game in Indy in front of fans and family and the Purdue family was awesome. We think we're the best team in Indiana. So protecting our state. And our record in the Crossroads, Purdue is 1-5. Vincent and I finished out .500, 2-2. Lost to Notre Dame and Butler early on. I think we have Purdue on the right track, so next year Carsen can lead those guys to the win. No, I think we came out, did our job. It was really cool for me winning on home court in Indy. VINCENT EDWARDS: Yeah, just to piggy-back off what he's saying, I told him in the locker room today, I said, we finished .500. Of course we lost to a really good Notre Dame team freshman year and they went to the Elite Eight. So they were really good. Then sophomore year, we ended up losing to Butler, letting one slip. We didn't execute down the stretch like we did today. To be able to get two rematches and be able to win both those games. Last year we won and a good comeback. This year we were able to stay out and stay ahead and finish the game. So I think it's kind of a good feeling and to break that curse of not beating them. So it was really good. Q. Matt, there are a few teams that are as efficient and quick on offense and grinding other teams on defense late into the shot clock the way you guys have proven to be this season. With that as backdrop, did Butler come at a really good time with the way you've been playing and the way you were able to execute against a team that runs the way they run? MATT PAINTER: I thought we did a good job of just sticking with certain guys.