NCAAB Game Preview - Wisconsin-Green Bay at Purdue

Wed Nov 6, 2019 7:00 PM EST

Purdue nearly rode the hot hand of shooting guard Carsen Edwards to a Final Four last season.

With Edwards gone, the No. 23 Boilermakers intend to take a more collective approach when they begin their season Wednesday night hosting Green Bay in West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue, which went 26-10 last season, has two returning starters, forward Nojel Eastern and center Matt Haarms. They're accompanied by seven other players back from a team that reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2000.

The Boilermakers were within seconds of a Final Four berth, but eventual national champion Virginia hit a game-tying shot at the end of regulation before knocking off Purdue 80-75 in overtime.

The production of Edwards, who led the Big Ten in scoring at 24.3 points per game last season, will be difficult to replace. Edwards declared for the NBA draft last April at the end of his junior season and was taken in the second round by the Boston Celtics. Purdue also lost guard Ryan Cline, who shot 41.7 percent from 3-point range and scored 12.0 ppg last season, and forward Grady Eifert (5.5 ppg. 5.2 rpg).

"We just have to have guys learn from that experience, and we need some new guys to come in and be able to adapt to our system and our understanding of how to play," Purdue coach Matt Painter said at Big Ten Basketball Media Day in Chicago.

The 6-foot-6 Eastern was an All-Big Ten defender last season, while the 7-3 Haarms led the conference in blocked shots (2.1 bpg) while shooting 63.2 percent from the field.

For offense, Purdue added grad transfer guard Jahaad Proctor, who averaged 19.4 points per game at High Point last season. Sophomore forward Aaron Wheeler and sophomore guard Sasha Stefanovic also have shown promise shooting the ball during the preseason. Wheeler scored 17 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the floor in Purdue's 88-59 exhibition win over Division II Southern Indiana.

"He's a good shooter," Painter said. "When he plays to his strengths, he's a really good player, like tonight, only having one turnover, that's great, he had three blocked shots, that's fabulous, he makes all of his 3s, he makes all of his free throws. We need him to be better on defensive end to start the second half, him and a couple of other guys weren't locked in from a defensive standpoint."

Eastern sat out the preseason game for Purdue with a minor injury, but is expected to return to the lineup for Wednesday night's opener.

Green Bay returns four starters from a team that went 21-17 and finished tied to fourth in the Horizon League last season. But like Purdue, Green Bay will need to find scoring to replace the production of its departed leading scorer, 6-6 guard Sandy Cohen III, who averaged 17.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals for the Phoenix last season.

In its lone exhibition game, Green Bay knocked off St. Norbert 79-72. Five Green Bay players scored in double figures, led by guards Trevian Bell and Kameron Hankerson, who scored 16 points apiece.

--Field Level Media