From the time he replaced Gene Keady three seasons ago, Matt Painter has preached defense.

That emphasis has paid huge dividends in a pair of victories against eighth-ranked Wisconsin — 60-56 on Jan. 26 in Mackey Arena and 72-67 late Saturday night in the Kohl Center.

At Mackey, Trevon Hughes, Marcus Landry and Michael Flowers were a collective 9 of 28 from the field for Wisconsin, including 2 of 6 from 3-point range, for 21 points.

In Saturday night’s rematch, those three were 7 of 28 from the field, 0 of 10 from beyond the arc, for 26 points.

“We made them take tough jumpshots that we contested,” Purdue guard Chris Kramer said. “Our defense puts us in a great position to win basketball games … creating turnovers and getting easy baskets.

“With defense, you have to be aggressive but smart. When you are in the middle of the court, you can’t hand-check. That’s what our problem is. You have to pick your spots when you are going to be aggressive. When you see blood in the water, that’s your spot.”

Painter appeared puzzled when asked how Purdue has shut down three of Wisconsin’s top four scorers.

“To be honest with you, I really don’t know,” Painter said. “Since Wisconsin has such good balance in their scoring, we don’t really gun for any of them. We talk about their strengths, and we talk about what they are trying to do in their swing offense.”

Lots of poise

Opponents have been impressed by Purdue’s ability to win nine consecutive Big Ten games, including four in a row on the road.

“Everybody still talks about as us the Baby Boilers,” Kramer said. “I think we use that like motivation … that we still have something to prove. We’re still not getting any credit for the stuff we’ve accomplished. That’s fine. We just have to keep doing the things we’re doing.”

Freshman guard E’Twaun Moore said this young team had no choice but to play with poise.

“We knew we had to mature early,” Moore said. “We’re a young team, and we all know we’re going to play a lot of minutes.”

Painter never questioned this group’s poise.

“They do not get rattled,” Painter said. “At times, they are not excited after big wins. They’re excited tonight.

“We have unselfish guys who are not real difficult to coach. Sometimes, you can have good players, but they are hard to coach. These guys aren’t hard to coach. It makes it pretty easy for our staff.”

Off and running

Purdue sank eight of its first 12 shots, racing out to a 25-12 lead.

“The start was very important because we knew we had to come out with a lot of intensity,” Moore said. “We had beaten them at our place, so we knew they would be ready to go.”

Grant said the start instilled confidence.

“It makes it more comfortable and easier,” Grant said. “(Calasan) got on a roll and hit those big shots. That got us going.”

Kramer credited Nemanja Calasan’s eight-point burst to start the game with paving the way.

“We kept on going,” Kramer said. “E’Twaun hit some big shots, and Rob (Hummel) played a great game.”

Chasing goals

Painter said he wasn’t bothered to read preseason predictions that had Purdue eighth or ninth in the Big Ten. At 10-1, Purdue is alone at the top of the Big Ten standings.

“When they pick you eighth or ninth in the league, it’s tough to publicly talk about winning the championship,” Painter said. “When your better players are guys that haven’t played yet, it’s hard to gauge how they are going to play when the popcorn is turning.

“I think we learned from our early losses. I learned from my mistakes, also.”