FORT WAYNE — In a lot of ways, Purdue basketball needed to learn about itself during the exhibition season.
Thankfully for the Boilermakers, a new NCAA rule allows for three exhibition contests, compared to the two permitted previously.
The way Purdue scheduled them couldn't have been laid out any nicer as the Boilers work toward their Nov. 2 regular-season opener against Gonzaga.
Get your feet wet at home. Go on the road against a mid-major. Go on the road against one of the country's best programs.
Purdue's next evolution up that ladder resulted in Thursday's 92-62 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne at Memorial Coliseum.
But it didn't come as easy as the final score indicates.
In Sunday's 32-point win over Ball State at Mackey Arena, few things deterred Purdue on its way to a comfortable margin throughout.
The Mastodons, playing in front of an uncharacteristic home crowd of 10,141 thanks to the Purdue exhibition road trip, made the Boilermakers sweat throughout much of the first half.
It wasn't until an 11-3 run to close the first half that Purdue gained some separation.
"The first half, definitely a little bit slow, some miscommunications and allowing dribble penetration," guard C.J. Cox said. "In the second half after talking in the locker room, we definitely cleaned that up, did a lot more talking, executing on offense, communicating more on defense."
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Purdue does not scout opponents for its exhibition games, which Cox said has Purdue "going in blind."
The coaches also divvy up minutes as equally as they can while also experimenting with different lineups.
That had nothing to do with Purdue's early struggles Thursday, however.
When the Boilermakers made their first substitutions, they'd just allowed a 7-0 run. At the second media timeout, Purdue had three turnovers and 13 points.
"Their aggressiveness, their pressure bothered a couple guys," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "We had a couple careless turnovers."
Painter has mentioned more than once the "best thing" for his teams the past three seasons was going on the road and losing an exhibition game.
The Boilermakers were never going to lose Thursday, but that kind of first half can have the same effect.
Purdue relied too much on its outside shooting and too little on taking care of the basketball, communication and defense.
If it does that this Tuesday, Oct. 27, against UConn, it'll get humbling real quick, which is why the trip to Fort Wayne may end up being a valuable schedule addition. Any year prior and Purdue doesn't make this trip.
But it did.
And what we learned through two games is this:
>> Purdue might shoot a lot of 3-pointers, but the Boilermakers don't have to live and die by outside shooting.
>> The Boilermakers might end up being a good rebounding team, especially with their ability to crash and get tap outs for long offensive rebounds.
>> Learning how to guard without fouling is still a work in progress.
>> Perhaps Purdue's best weapon is its depth and its ability to diversify its lineups with that depth.
On Thursday, we found out a nugget that perhaps wasn't known based on the Ball State exhibition result.
How would Purdue respond to some adversity? Purdue Fort Wayne saw an opportunity against a major-conference program that's made deep NCAA Tournament runs routine in recent seasons.
And the Mastodons brought it. They just didn't have the horses to hold up.
Mastodons coach Jon Coffman said his team learned a lot about itself by facing Purdue.
The visiting Boilermakers learned a lot about themselves, too.
The ability to play a third exhibition game not only did a solid for Purdue Fort Wayne's program, as Coffman said with gratitude afterward, but it allowed the Boilers to strategically build up a team with a lot of new faces in new places more meticulously for the regular season.
"Games get real tight, now all the sudden you’re going to go to the guys. You’re going to play C.J. Cox 35 minutes," Painter said. "That’s not the purpose here. The purpose is for all of us to play. The purpose is for us to get some experience. We return one starter and so everything is a little bit new to us."
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Mastodons make Purdue sweat, and that could help the Boilermakers before the UConn exhibition