WEST LAFAYETTE — The Lance Jones who Purdue fans have seen in West Lafayette this season is not the same Lance Jones who Southern Illinois fans saw for four years in Carbondale, Illinois.
Not that Jones is any less effective. For Purdue, Jones provides athleticism, defense on the ball and he can score, though he doesn’t need to score.
When Jones wore the maroon of the Salukis, he was one of the primary scorers. Along with Marcus Domask, who is also now a Big Ten player at Illinois, Jones was part of a 1-2 scoring punch.
At his peak, Jones was a volume scorer for Southern Illinois, very often taking over 10 shots per game, peaking at 12.5 shots per game in 2023. In Tuesday’s 99-67 win over Michigan at Mackey Arena, Jones flashed back to his old role for his new team.
In his game-high 24-point scoring effort for the Boilermakers, Jones took a season-high 16 shots. Jones doesn’t shoot as much with Purdue as he did at Southern Illinois, but it’s good for Purdue to know it’s in his pocket if he needs it.
“I didn’t force anything. Braden found me in my spots, and I felt good tonight,” said Jones, who was at least as happy with his three steals as he was his scoring output.
Purdue coach Matt Painter added Jones as the Boilermakers’ only portal addition in the offseason. The beauty of the portal is a player can be recruited to fill a specific role with his new team but can fall back on his old role with his former team if his new team needs it.
“Lance was more of a scorer because he needed to be there. He needs to be here in particular times and in particular games,” Painter said.
What pleased Painter is almost none of Jones’ shots were forced.
“What a lot of people won’t grasp is that (Jones) went 7-of-16, but he organically got 16 shots. Sometimes people put that on the coach. We run a lot of stuff through Braden on ball screens and stuff through Zachary (Edey). When you give them that high volume, it’s that other guys playing off of them,” Painter said. “So when it presents itself, you have to be aggressive. That understanding of when you do have it (is important).”
Jones, who has become a Purdue fan favorite with his enthusiasm and occasional on-court dances, is happy he’s an integral part of the ride the Boilermakers hope leads them to the Final Four or more.
“It means everything to me. They’ve helped me through so much, and I’m forever grateful,” Jones said.
PURDUE’S MOST COMPLETE TEAM?
After the game, Painter was asked if this is his most complete team since he took over as head coach for the Boilermakers in 2005.
“I would say so. Tonight wasn’t a good rebounding night for us, and we out-rebounded them by nine,” Painter said.
Painter used his bench to illustrate his point.
“We have someone like Myles Colvin. His ability to score the basketball — he’s going to be a great player here, and we struggle to get him minutes. We have a lot of depth,” Painter said.
Painter didn’t just cite Colvin. He said it’s a real problem trying to find everyone the minutes he wants to give them.
“I’ve never had this problem like this. It’s a good problem to have. We have a lot of good players,” Painter said.
EDEY ON HIS DUNKS
Edey had three dunks against Michigan. Certainly not his highest output but par for the course given his dominance in the lane.
He was asked after the game whether he admires his own jams.
“Not at all. I try to get back on defense. Obviously, it feels cool to dunk and dunk on people. I don’t go back and watch and admire them. It’s cool to do it, though,” Edey said.
MILESTONE
Tuesday’s victory was Purdue’s 700th win in Mackey Arena. The Boilers are 700-147 (.826) all-time, including 379-110 (.775) in Big Ten games.
Painter owns a 262-44 record (.856) at Mackey.
