Purdue gets a quick chance to respond after a rough one, heading back to Mackey Arena to face Illinois State in a game that already feels important for a team trying to settle in after the departures of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn. The loss to Valparaiso - another Missouri Valley Conference opponent - brought plenty of concern with it, and an 0-2 start would put Purdue in a spot it has not seen since the 1973-1974 season, when it opened with losses to Clemson and Miami (OH).
The matchup gives Purdue a chance to steady itself before the rest of the non-conference schedule, but another bad night could make the early-season hole feel a lot deeper.
One of the biggest issues is obvious: Purdue has to shoot better from deep and keep Illinois State from living there. The Redbirds have been scorching from 3-point range through two games, hitting 48% from beyond the arc, which ranks 10th in the country. Purdue, meanwhile, sits at 341st at 20.4%, a number that is 9% worse than any Purdue season since 1997, when the Boilermakers shot 29.6% from 3.
That gap matters even more because Illinois State has also defended the arc well, holding opponents to 25% from 3, good for 25th nationally. Purdue’s own defense has been more ordinary from long range, allowing 34.7%, but the bigger issue is that the offense has not been able to make up for its shooting problems. Against a team picked near the top of the Missouri Valley Conference, that combination is a problem.
Purdue may need to look at its rotation to find answers. Jacob Webber is one name to watch after what he showed over the summer and in the first two exhibition games, and Luke Ertel could also be in line for more run after averaging just 12 minutes per game so far. The source points to both as possible ways to help change the pace and improve the offense.
The other path to control is forcing mistakes. Illinois State has turned the ball over on 23.6% of its possessions, which ranks 313th nationally, and Purdue should have the kind of guards and wings that can make that number matter.
CJ Cox, Gicarri Harris, Luke Ertel, and Omer Mayer are the names highlighted as potential pressure points on the defensive end, and winning the possession battle is a familiar Painter priority. More possessions means more chances to score, and Purdue needs those chances if the shooting struggles continue.
Inside, Purdue has a major edge with 7’4 Daniel Jacobsen. He has been putting up 25 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2 assists per game, production that makes him look like one of the best big men in the country. The one missing piece so far is shot-blocking, where he is averaging just .5 per game.
Illinois State does have size of its own, including 6’11, 235-pound freshman Nick Allen, who is averaging 10 points and 3 rebounds in 13 minutes per game, though he does not start. The Redbirds have leaned more on 6’9 Chase Walker and 6’9 Noah Cleveland, but neither matches up well with Jacobsen’s size, skill, or physical presence. Illinois State also has a 0% block rate and ranks 282nd in 2-point field goal percentage defense at 58.8%.
Still, Purdue can’t just rely on Jacobsen to do all the work. The guards and wings have to get downhill and put pressure on the rim. Too often, the source notes, Purdue’s starters come off ball screens moving sideways instead of attacking vertically, settling for resets or pull-up jumpers and letting the defense off the hook.
To crack Illinois State’s defense, Purdue’s perimeter players need to get deep into the paint, force help, finish at the rim, dump it off to Jacobsen for efficient looks, or kick out to open shooters. That same kind of rim pressure helped keep Purdue alive late against Valpo, when the Boilermakers got to the line and finished 27-32. Without that surge, the source says Purdue loses in regulation by at least four points.
In Other News...
Purdue Makes A Late Defensive Change As Barry Odom Tries To Stop Slide
Purdues defensive struggles finally prompted a change after the loss to Maryland, with head coach Barry Odom moving on from defensive coordinator Kevin Kane effective immediately. Kane had been hired after the 2025 season and was no stranger to the program, having previously served as Purdues defensive coordinator in 2023 and 2024, but the Boilermakers issues on that side of the ball have only grown more difficult to ignore.
For Odom, the timing underscores how urgent the situation has become as Purdue tries to halt its slide and salvage some stability on defense. The move leaves the Boilermakers with a major staff question in the middle of the season, and it puts the focus squarely on how quickly they can reset before the next chance to respond on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Barry Odoms Purdue Defense Gamble Just Blew Up
Barry Odoms first major defensive move at Purdue has already come undone, with the Boilermakers parting ways with Kevin Kane after just nine games of the 2026 season. The decision came after a stretch of poor defensive play that left the unit under heavy criticism, and Odom has since acknowledged that bringing Kane in was a mistake.
Even with the dismissal, Purdue is still tied to Kane financially for the long haul, with his salary set to run through the end of his contract in December 2027. It is the kind of expensive misfire that underscores how quickly a staff decision can turn into a program-wide issue, especially when the results on the field never catch up to the expectation. [Read more 🡒]
Purdues Latest Collapse Exposed A Bigger Problem For Barry Odom
Purdues 34-29 loss to Maryland landed with the kind of thud that lingers beyond a single Saturday, especially for a program trying to steady itself under Barry Odom. Afterward, Odom met with the media alongside Ryan Browne, Charles Correa and DNylon Morrisette, and the mood was unmistakably grim as the Boilermakers tried to sort through another game that slipped away in the margins.
What made this one sting was how familiar the problems sounded. Odom pointed to defensive breakdowns and situational mistakes as the difference, the sort of issues that can turn a competitive afternoon into a frustrating loss in a hurry. For Purdue, the bigger concern is not just the result itself but the pattern it suggests, with the staff now facing a harder question about how quickly those lapses can be cleaned up. [Read more 🡒]