The exhibition season is in the books and now Purdue turns its attention to its first game of the season. On Monday, the Boilermakers will play No. 15 Gonzaga in the Hall of Fame Series in Las Vegas. It's an opportunity for this year's team to open a new season with a marquee victory.

On Thursday, just two days after Purdue suffered a 76-53 exhibition loss to No. 4 UConn, head coach Matt Painter spoke with reporters about the start of the regular season. He recapped the performance against the Huskies and looked ahead to Monday's contest against Gonzaga.

Let's look at some of the key quotes from Painter's first regular-season press conference of the year.

What was exposed in the UConn game

UConn gave Purdue plenty of problems on Tuesday night. The Boilermakers connected on just two of their 25 attempts from three-point range, lost the rebounding battle 40-34, and had two more turnovers than the Huskies.

Painter could have pointed to a number of things that went wrong for his team in that final exhibition game. However, a handful of things stood out from the game.

"We've got to do a better job of rebounding, do a better job of embracing the physicality of the game. And then, just executing and understanding that we have to get into what we're doing earlier," Painter said. "If you're going to play at the end of the shot clock, the ball has to be in the hands of someone who can go make plays. That's how we have to be able to orchestrate, running good offense and getting a quality shot, because if you play to the end of the shot clock against some really good teams, you're going to have some really poor possessions."

Although Purdue returns plenty of experience from last year's team, this is a younger team in which several players are learning new roles. Executing on both ends of the floor is an area where the Boilers need to improve moving forward.

Communication on the defensive end

During Big Ten Media Days in early October, Painter said that this year's team has the potential to be really good on the defensive end. Where the Boilers still need to make progress, though, is in communication.

That was an area where Purdue struggled in Tuesday night's game against UConn and has been a bit of a lingering issue through the three exhibition games.

"Communication is the key. That's probably the one thing that jumped out for me from a defensive standpoint," Painter said. "When you're the low man, and you're at the rim, you've got to be the loudest, because you see nine other people on the court. So it's important that you paint a picture with your voice while you're on the court, and we just don't have that."

Painter said veteran players need to be more vocal and lead the way, but everyone must use their voice to help out their teammates.

How Purdue learns from the UConn loss

It would be easy for Purdue to schedule three non-competitive exhibition games to feel good about itself heading into a new season. But Painter loves using these high-level preseason games as learning opportunities for his team.

Even though UConn pummeled Purdue in Hartford on Tuesday night, there are some positives to draw from the game. A lot of those come in the form of learning from mistakes.

"Playing that game is to get ready for this game," Painter said. "If you play better, you like it. It magnifies your issues. No one is sitting around watching that film thinking, 'We've got this figured out.' We don't have it figured out. We have to keep working, have to keep plugging."

What to expect from Gonzaga

Now that the preseason is in the rearview mirror, Purdue turns its attention to Gonzaga, a skilled team that will present some problems for the Boilermakers.

Gonzaga is a team with speed, quickness and size. Mark Few's teams are also fundamentally sound and don't often beat themselves. Expect more of the same from the Bulldogs this season.

Painter said the one thing Purdue must do is keep Gonzaga out of transition. That's where this team thrives, so having high-quality possessions is critical.

"Great in transition, good size," Painter said. "There are a few areas that are going to be so important for us, no matter who we play, but we have to do a better job of keeping people out of transition. These guys are really good in transition. That starts with taking care of the basketball, taking good shots, setting your defense."

Tipoff between Purdue and Gonzaga is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game will air on TNT.