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Isaac Haas said he touched the ball three times on offense in Purdue's last game, over the weekend at Iowa.

With the Hawkeyes opting to front Haas in the post and use a guard to hover behind in help, entry passes simply wouldn't have been smart decisions to facilitate offense. And the third-ranked Boilermakers are all about being intelligent and efficient on offense.

So while Iowa was intent to swarm the 7-foot-2 center, Purdue's shooters were intent on shooting.

And making.

The Boilermakers drilled a Big Ten Conference-game record 20 three-pointers in a blowout victory, something Haas actually kind of predicted before the game. Only days before Purdue's trip to Iowa City, Haas said, "If you're going to take me away, we're going to light you up from three and win by 30."

And then his teammates went out and did just that.

Just like they’d done the game prior against Wisconsin when Haas was limited again offensively — and, also, a bit cold, missing his only five attempts — and yet Purdue made 14 three-pointers in another rout.

So if opponents want to continue to choose to focus on Haas in the post and make that their defensive emphasis — to keep the big man from getting touches — so be it, says the big man.

“They were like, ‘OK, we’re going to take him out of the game, we’re going to make sure he doesn’t get any touches, we’re going to make it hard on him.’ Everybody else took advantage of that,” Haas said, chuckling a bit at the thought. “Carsen (Edwards) had great games. Vince (Edwards) had great games. Dakota (Mathias) had a struggling game (shooting) against Wisconsin, but then he fired off against Iowa. You can go down the bench. I can choose six different guys who can shoot the three. I know one of them is going to be hitting.

“They choose to take me away, and they tried to make us live with the threes, and they paid for it.”

Not that Haas wouldn’t like to affect games in a more direct way.

He has NBA aspirations, after all, and he wants to prove his worth on the offensive end in a tangible way, by maximizing his shot attempts. For the most part, he’s done exactly that this season, sinking 62 percent of his shots — every single one of them a two-pointer, naturally — and it’s because of that efficiency and ability to affect games that teams have decided they have to try to shut him down.

And because of that change in defensive approach — how in the world could the first instinct not be to try to defend Purdue’s shooters on the perimeter when the Boilermakers are third in the country at 44 percent on threes? — this whole “pick your poison” mantra that players have talked about all season has just been demonstrated at every turn.

The last time Purdue played Michigan, its opponent Thursday night in Mackey Arena, the Wolverines opted to not consistently double team Haas. So when he had one-on-one matchups, he backed defenders down, pivoted on them, took jump-hooks over them — exactly as he’s coached to do — and he scored 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting. It’s possible now-25th-ranked Michigan will opt to defend Purdue the same way in a big-time rematch, but it’s possible it’ll shift focus, too.

Purdue players said they’re ready regardless.

“The last couple games, it’s been the point guard on the backside there waiting (to help on Haas). So when we read that, we just raise our guy that they’re doubling with. It’s all just reading where the defense is and moving (the ball),” Mathias said. “(Teams) have so much notice on where he’s at and what he’s doing and when he catches it there, they’re sending guys. They really don’t want him to catch it, and that’s why we’ve been getting a lot of open looks. Just the attention he’s getting down there, opens up everything else for the guards outside.

“I think Isaac has done a good job of not getting frustrated. He’s not getting the ball as much as he has been, but I think he understands it’s because of him why we’re getting so many open looks and we’re making shots. It’s a good quality to have.”

Haas’ development as a better decision-maker has helped, too, allowing teammates to trust him more to give the initial feeds, and Haas has been more conscious this season about knowing where his teammates are on the floor to counter any extra help he may get. He’s quicker to zip a pass to the corner where a waiting P.J. Thompson, for example, could be. Or he’s more aware when a double comes off the other big, usually Vincent Edwards, and he’ll slip a pass there.

Or if there’s not even a chance for an entry pass so he can make that kind of decision — like against Iowa and, to a lesser extent, Wisconsin — he’s adapting to that kind of a role, too, by still giving good effort on defense and rebounding. In 42 minutes in the last two games, he had seven rebounds and three blocks and only one turnover.

“It wasn’t like he took the last couple games off,” assistant coach Brandon Brantley said. “Wisconsin knew how dangerous he was in the post, and they kind of did some things to get him out of rhythm. The Iowa game, we just blew them wide open with our shooting. It’s going to come back around. He’s still a hard matchup for anybody. The way we’re shooting the ball I think is going to open it back up for him on the interior.”

In the least, Haas gives opponents plenty to think about.

Coach Matt Painter said it’s likely the “No. 1 thing" on opposing coaches' minds, how to stop Haas.

“They have a choice to overthink it or overdo it (against Haas), but there’s only so ways you can handle it,” Painter said. “For us, my big thing with them is just taking what the defense gives us. It’s not about getting Carsen going, Vince going or Isaac going. It’s about getting Purdue going.

"A lot of times people talk shots, I like to talk decisions. We’re going to make a good decision. If that leads to somebody shooting it, great. But it doesn’t matter. If you have two or three really offensive guys and your other guys aren’t good offensively, then it’s different. You set roles and those two to three guys, we want them shooting. We want the other guys passing, setting screens and getting back on D. That’s not the case. We have a lot of guys who can shoot, a lot of guys who can play, very versatile. So I think we’re going to have different guys lead us in scoring.”