HONOLULU — Lance Jones’ full-court shot to end the first half was a matter of luck. His play at the end of the second half of the Maui Invitational championship game was a matter of reading the situation.
With Purdue holding a three-point lead on Marquette and Zach Edey at the line, Purdue coach Matt Painter had told his team to foul if Edey missed and prevent a potential game-tying shot. But as Marquette’s Kam Jones corralled the rebound, Lance Jones could see his opponent didn’t have a clean handle on the ball.
Jones gambled on playing the final seconds straight, and it paid off. Marquette’s final desperate attempt was off-line from the beginning and hit nothing, leaving Jones to race into the arms of his delighted teammates as the Boilermakers claimed the 2023 Maui Invitational title with a 78-75 win over Marquette on Wednesday afternoon.
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“I didn't want to put myself in a position to foul where he could get a shot up,” Lance Jones said. “So I kind of just played him straight up and he took a bad one.
“It means a lot (to win). I was telling the guys before the game it feels good to be on a winning team. This is my first time competing for a championship in an MTE. It just felt good and this was definitely something to look forward to, but this is only the beginning, for sure.”
Whether it truly is just the beginning for Purdue depends on how well it learns the lessons from three difficult games on the islands. Once again, the Boilermakers (6-0) faced a stiff challenge that required a different way to win, as fifth-ranked Marquette (5-1) opted to focus on Edey and force Purdue to hit big shots and make gritty plays to win.
The Boilers did both Wednesday. Purdue shot 10-for-21 from behind the arc, and when the Boilers did miss, Edey was usually there to clean up the mess. The Boilermakers’ final possession epitomized what they’ve grown into, as Braden Smith’s miss on a good look led to an Edey tip-in, forcing the Golden Eagles to scramble at the end.
“I thought we had a couple chances to cork it (from deep), and you’ve got to do it,” Painter said. “Obviously, they wanted to get it to (Edey), right? It's pressure, it's time, it's his time to get the basketball, but now when they double him, you’ve got to do what you're supposed to.
“You’ve got to step up and take 'em, even sometimes when you're struggling. You’ve got to step up when you're wide open right there and feel good about that. It was great to see those guys, Lance, Fletch, Braden, make multiple 3s.”
Between them, Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Jones knocked down eight 3-pointers and kept firing in the face of the Golden Eagles’ pressure. A year ago, that confidence wasn’t always there for Purdue, a difference not lost on Marquette coach Shaka Smart.
“Those guys just play with more poise now; they play with more confidence,” Smart said. “Purdue is their team. For having the National Player of the Year on your team, those two guys' ownership of their program is special. I think that separates them as a program from even other teams here. You’ve got two guys like that as sophom*ores that they are Purdue and Purdue is them.”
That fact has permeated the Boilermakers’ entire lineup, regardless of their experience. Wednesday was Jones’ turn to make the kind of plays that have become a staple of Purdue’s program, such as a strip of Kam Jones on a two-on-one to thwart one Marquette possession and forcing a held ball to earn a Marquette turnover.
“Lance has done a lot of little things,” Painter said. “I like his approach. He's mature, he's competitive, he wants to win, he's learning how to play in our system, and he's learning how to play with our guys.”
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After three wins over top opposition, the Boilermakers will almost certainly top the polls next week. Neither the ranking nor coming home from a November tournament with a trophy are new for Purdue, but the Boilermakers intend on making their follow-up response different.
Winning the most loaded Maui Invitational in history clearly meant a lot to Purdue, but at the same time, they’re well aware that their goals will be decided in March, not November.
“We’re more level-headed this year,” Loyer said. “This is something we worked for; we wanted to win this and came and did it, so we’ve got to celebrate and cherish it. Then we’ll move on to the next one.”
