The Creighton plan is fools gold. The only reason they won that game was Ashford was out of his mind and they hit 14 3s on 50%. Thats at the very least what PUrdue is going to have to do.
I don't completely agree (though I am 75% there with you).
Defensively Creighton made it tough on UConn to run a lot of the action we usually see with their one man zone Kalkbrenner played. That is something Purdue will likely do. UConn's single game offensive efficiency was still great but it was like against Kansas and because Newton did Newton things against the drop coverage. That said, Purdue is a good deal smaller 1-3 compared to Creighton and they have no one like Alexander defensively (Jones is good but smaller). Also, Newton, Castle and Cam have been better at keeping their defender on their back and probing the paint for a floater or dish to Clingan recently when other teams have tried that against UConn. I prefer they hard attack Edey and don't settle though.
Offensively, I agree. Smith is better overall compared to Ashworth but he also doesn't usually bomb multiple shots from 30 feet and sink them and I doubt he will be better than Ashworth was that game. Also, Purdue has nobody as consistently good as Scheierman at the three. He is so good it forced UConn to put Castle on him which put Cam on Ashworth. UConn will have the luxury of having Castle/Diarra on Smith. Unless Loyer has an unusually great game, he just isnt the same threat Scheierman is normally. Jones is good and arguably as, or more, dynamic on the break compared to Alexander but he doesn't have the same versatility to his half-court game. Alexander killed UConn on the mid-range and forced UConn to use Newton on him. I really love the way Smith plays as a smaller Kolek. That said I like Renn/Gillis over Miller.
It also helps Creighton that they are pretty used to playing UConn and were at home.
Of course Purdue has Edey who is a beast and much better offensively compared to Kalkbrenner.