Amazingly competitive games over the past decade + with Tennessee (3 to OT and the 4th decided on final possession). Thrilled to be on the winning side of three of them. Great stuff!


2009-10 Paradise Jam
Purdue 73
Tennessee 72
Final in Regulation

2016-17 Battle of Atlantis
Tennessee 78
Purdue 75
0T

2018-19 Sweet 16
Purdue 99
Tennessee 94
OT

2021 Music City Bowl
Purdue 48
Tennessee 45
OT

I was totally impressed today by the way that Edey played. Cockburn has been dominating recently, but he had no answer on either end against Zach. I doubt anyone else in the country could do that against Kofi.

the board versus a bit more 3 balls by Illinois. Course Curbello kept the Ill in it with the 2 pt fg and Eric getting the pass from TRevion for 2 pts was big. I'm guessing that Ill outscored Purdue by 7 or so behind the arc. HUGE game by Zach and not Trevion's best game played. This is a great win for reasons outside the obvious Big run, but for Eric to take another step. I suspect that Matt knows in the long run he needs Eric who has already played in big games down the road. Now Eric needs to take another step Thursday. What a game by Zach...he really has some good footwork. Isaiah got good looks today, but still went 1 /3 or 1/4???? Brandon came in and overall played well enough to get minutes down the road. REally solid effort by all, but some bad decisions as the clock was winding down in all periods.

This battle also allowed Purdue to play in a high stakes game against a really solid team in a hostile environment. Cheerleaders and fans jumping on the court in the Hall of Calls won't be quite as bothersome...

I’m a big Painter fan and he obviously knows the X’s and O’s EXCEPT in bound and end of half plays. Why is that? Is it player execution or just lack of proper play calling?

NM

If I'm reading correctly, they don't have anyone with Covid. Seems rather convenient they would skip the harder games on their schedule. Should be a forfeit.

And F them for causing me to miss my Tuesday night Boiler festivities.

Interesting take by the Illinois Rivals writer. He likes Purdue to win by 8. I’m used to Illinois people being total homers so I was surprised to see that prediction.

I hate playing on the road. Give me a break refs.

You love to see it 😎

Login to view embedded media

When I was a younger Boiler fan I loved games like this. The adrenaline was a great high.

Now that I'm over 50 I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack. My heart was pounding at the end of regulation. At the end of the first OT I could barely breath. In the 2nd OT I picked up the phone and dialed 9-1 and now I'm waiting for the palpitations or tightness in my chest to hit that last 1.

My DVR quit recording with about 4 minutes to go in the second half. My Wife told me there was going to be a replay this evening. I can’t find out where.

Ridiculous!! Missed free throws are killing us.

As I've said, I'm gonna keep updating our PG stats (basically IT+EH). Seems like it is bringing lucky charm to our team, as our PGs have arguably one of their best games, going for 14 pts (2-3 from 2s, 2-5 from 3s, 4-4 FTs), 2 REBs, 2 ASTs, and 1 TO.

As you can see from the table, our PGs were rolling early in the season (except ISU) until the Iowa game, then they struggled (except the cupcake games against Incarnate Word and Nicholls) until today. You can tell from their efficiency (ORtg) - if it's triple-digit they are good, otherwise bad. Our PGs have 7 consecutive double-digit ORtg games against P6 opponents, and it's great to see them breaking out today against Illinois.

Still 62 on defense … but it’s a pretty small gap to improve overall. Also worth noting that KenPom ranks 358 teams on defense …. So 62 is still top 20%.

This Wrap Video is taking forever!!

I know coming into the season, one concern many of us had was how effective we would be shooting from 3. Today we saw Illinois choosing to not double the post, and part of that reason had to be because they are one of the few teams we have played with such a dominant post player, and they figured they could live with that over letting guys get more open opportunities. Of course almost all know we have a 10 man rotation, truly unique to do with some guys not having a lot of minutes to get in a groove...one would think that might also affect shooters as they have cycled on and off of the bench.

9 of our ten guys have shot a 3 this season, with Edey the only rotation guy to not have an attempt. Trevion is and should be a very low volume guy as well. He missed his only look today, but a few of the ones he has hit have been in important game play as opposed to garbage time shots. It won't stun anybody to see that Sasha is our largest volume guy at 6.4 attempts per game. If Sasha didn't have a good game tonight, there definitely would have been 8-10 new posts titles 'Sasha" with a large diatribe explaining his deficiencies. Of course, he was very good today, but that volume also speaks to how much we need him to shoot a game...let alone make them at a high percentage that he does.

4 of the top 5 shooters are also not so much ironically starters. For those calling for IT to be replaced, likely as much out of frustration for the least offensively proficient spot on the floor, even with his struggles, he went down to only 41% for the season. Water is likely more or less finding its level as shooting in the 50's was crazy. 4 starters shooting over 40% is truly the 'pick your poison' stuff we have heard from more than a few opposing coach press conferences this season.

1. Gillis - 53%! Just a crazy percentage, and that after he missed his only attempt today.
2. Ivey - 43% This after just shooting 26% all last season.
3. Morton - 43% 29% last season. Very low volume, but you cannot leave him open and he looks confident taking that shot.
4. Sasha - 41% He is marked man every game with the opposing team putting their best perimeter defender on him.
5. IT - 41% Same percentage as Sasha which would surprise many considering his shooting slump.
6. Trevion - 38% Hard to believe. He has shot enough and made enough that Painter has obviously not shut this down.
7. Furst - 38% Who wouldn't be pleased by that for a kid that played as a dominant 5 in high school?
8. Newman - 35% He only needs to go 5-7 and will hit 40% for the season. Not as bad as could be perceived.
9. Hunter - 31% 1-1 today. When scouting Purdue, he is the guy you want taking that shot...and he is the worst at 31%! He's made only 7 all year...that is further evidence on how big that make was today.

40% as a whole team, even with the minimal walk-on attempts. Starters are shooting 43% on the season. As crazy as it sounds, I expect Sasha and IT to hit every attempt they put up. Gillis might even need a possession or 2 a game to be designed to just get him a good look. He might be a sneaky better shooter than folks anticipated. 81% free throw shooter last season and 20-20 on this one. 35% from 3 last season and seems to just have great concentration when given good looks.

Hard to know how much impact Callaway had, or, his retirement will have...an impressive resume, but, no idea how much he did ultimately.

I think the loss of Shephard is a big one potentially (it might be mitigated, depending on his replacement).

The loss of Lambert could be fairly significant, but, there are some guys still in place at least that do help to mitigate it, and, hopefully they can land another quality assistant on that side to replace Lambert.

I am a little surprised by the turnover, but, not shocked...something to be said for guys being picked up that have generally been successful...it would be nice to have some stability though, especially at a time where Purdue is in a position to have some success on the field and hopefully in turn off of it with respect to recruiting.

I can’t remember the exact moment, but there was a rebound late in regulation or OT where Illini got called for a regular foul against Tre that I thought was an obvious Hook and Hold. But I don’t think they reviewed it. Did anyone else notice it?

PLAYER GRADES: vs. Purude​

Alec Busse • OrangeandBlueNews
Staff
Illinois fell to No. 4 Purdue 96-88 in double overtime on Monday at State Farm Center suffering their first loss of the Big Ten season.
Despite Andre Curbelo returning to the lineup for the first time since late November and scoring 20 points, Illinois wasn’t able to overcome the struggles of junior big man Kofi Cockburn.
Orange and Blue News’ Alec Busse grades each player’s performance from Monday’s game.

Trent Frazier: B​

Fifth-year senior Trent Frazier didn’t have the flair for the dramatic in the biggest moments of Monday’s games as he had in many of the Illini’s previous games this season. But Frazier was still able to finish with 16 points, five rebounds and a team-high six assists while playing in 48 of the 50 minutes. Purdue did a good job of making it difficult for Frazier to get open looks on the perimeter, which contributed to his 2-of-9 shooting from three-point land on Monday.
Brad Underwood felt coming into the game that Purdue’s offense really thrives in the half-court when the Boilermaker’s fifth-year senior Sasha Stefanovic is rolling. Entering Monday’s game, Stefanovic was shooting better than 40 percent from three-point land and he buried 5-of-8 from deep, including three big ones in the second half and overtime. But Frazier isn’t responsible for all of those, and in fact, he really limited Stefanovic and he key in defending him late in regulation on Purdue’s final attempt before overtime.
Purdue’s Matt Painter praised Frazier’s defense after the game and said that Frazier knows so much defensively and really praised him for the way he played on that end. That says a lot because Frazier also stepped over and guarded likely top-10 draft pick, Jaden Ivey, when Da’Monte Williams was on the bench.
It’s fair to wonder what a couple more buckets from Frazier might have done for Illinois, but Frazier has carried Illinois to victories multiple times this season.

Alfonso Plummer: B​

After continuing to struggle shooting the basketball in the first half and passing up open looks from the perimeter in the first half, Alfonso Plummer started to see his three-point shot fall again in the second half. Plummer came into Monday’s game making just 4-of-21 from three over the last four games, and after the first half, he had made just 4-24. But Plummer made 4-of-6 from three-point land in the second half and overtime, which helped him finish with a team-high 24 points, which included a game-tying layup with nine seconds left in the game at the end of the first overtime.
But despite Plummer getting hot from three-point land in the second half and overtime, his defense really lacked in the second half against Purdue’s second and third guards Isaiah Thompson and Eric Hunter Jr. Plummer was guilty of giving up a costly back cut with just over a minute left in the second overtime period to Hunter, which put the Boilermakers up 89-83. While Plummer’s on-ball defense has started to improve over the last several games, he still gets caught ball watching or not being fully aware when he isn’t defending the ball. Purdue was able to expose that a couple of times because of how good of a passer Trevion Williams is.

Da’Monte Williams: B+​

Defensively, Da’Monte Williams was asked to do a lot for Illinois on Monday because he was tasked with defending Jaden Ivey. Ivey, who Underwood said after the game as Russel Westbrook like athleticism, is quicker and longer than Williams is. But the Illini’s fifth-year senior was able to use his physicality to prevent Ivey from getting good looks in the half-court, and he erased one of Ivey’s fastbreak layup attempts by blocking his shot. Williams was also able to get a finger on an attempt by Trevion Williams midway through the first overtime period, which was huge for the Illini.
With the Illini’s frontcourt hurt by foul trouble, Williams became one of the Illini’s best rebounders too. He and Andre Curbelo tied for a team-high six rebounds with all six of Williams’ boards coming on the defensive glass.
Offensively, Williams looked to be more comfortable and he didn’t force any shots or passes as he had in recent games. He finished with just three points, but he attempted just two shots. Still, he dished out four assists and had just one turnover on the day.

Jacob Grandison: B-​

With Andre Curbelo returning to the lineup and playing really, really well Illinois was forced to play more without Jacob Grandison, especially in the second half. Grandison ended up playing 30 minutes and scored eight points on 3-for-10 shooting, which included three missed layups in the first half. Grandison did make 2-of-5 from three on Monday. Really, the three missed layups ended up hurting the Illini.
Grandison was tasked with guarding Mason Gillis, Purdue’s four-man and he did a really good job. Gillis isn’t one of Purdue’s best options offensively because he’s not elite at creating a shot, but Grandison guarded effectively on the perimeter and made his looks difficult
How Illinois uses Grandison now that Curbelo appears to be back in the rotation is going to be really interesting to see play out. Does Grandison keep his starting spot? Or does Illinois opt to keep Curbelo on the bench to start games? Really how the dynamic plays out with the starters and bench players might not matter. Instead, what matters is who plays starters' minutes and sees their minutes shrink.

Kofi Cockburn: D​

Kofi Cockburn was disappointing in the Illini’s first home loss of the season against Arizona, but he was much more disappointing in the Illini’s loss to Purdue on Monday. Arizona and Purdue are really the only two teams that the Illini have played that have a legitimate matchup for Cockburn in the paint. Arizona’s Christian Koloko was able to use his length to bother Cockburn and Purdue’s Zach Edey was able to use his massive 7-foot-4 frame to disrupt Cockburn offensively and Trevion Williams’ skill was able to get a couple of buckets over Cockburn too. Cockburn has shown a deeper bag of tricks this season in the paint, but he’s now struggled against teams that have quality bigs to match him in the paint – and that’s a concern because Illinois needs Cockburn to be better than his opponents in big games.
Brad Underwood said after the game Cockburn likely wasn’t able to get into a flow because of the foul trouble that he got into. The two fouls that he was dinged for in the first half quickly turned into four before the start of the first media timeout of the second half, and that kept Cockburn on the bench until the under eight media timeout. Cockburn struggled when he was reinserted back into the game before eventually fouling out of the game less than a minute into the first overtime period.
Cockburn has largely been able to avoid foul trouble this season, but he was called for fouls against Nebraska and fouled out of Monday’s game vs. Purdue. Not letting that snowball into an ugly series of foul-prone basketball is key for Cockburn – and the Illini.

Omar Payne: B-​

Omar Payne came off the bench for the Illini before the first media timeout and gave Illinois some really positive energy, which included his lone offensive rebound which led to a Trent Frazier three-pointer. After going to the bench for a few minutes and then returning after Cockburn got his second personal foul, Payne continued to give the Illini positive play – especially on the defensive side where he forced three straight misses by Trevion Williams.
But it all quickly turned for Payne when he was issued a technical foul and a flagrant one after a brief altercation with Williams, which was capitalized on by the Boilermakers with a 17-2 run heading into halftime. Payne would later just play one minute in the second half and he didn’t play in either of the overtime periods.

Andre Curbelo: A​

For the first time since late November, Andre Curbelo is included in the post-game player grades. The sophomore point guard made his much-anticipated return to the rotation on Monday, and he did it with a bang. The Puerto Rican finished with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, 18 of those points came in the second half or overtime.
There had been doubters about whether or not this Illinois team was better or worse without Andre Curbelo, but he silenced many of the critics in the second half, especially in his first stretch of minutes in the second half when he scored eight points to go along with one assist and one rebound. But Curbelo also kept it going later in the game with his ability to get to the rim and finish. He did miss a floater at the end of the third overtime that would have given the Illini the lead, but for Curbelo to come back from a nearly two-month break and play the way he did offensively was really impressive.
The plan was to play Curbelo for just 6-8 minutes, due to him only practicing twice before the game and not being in great physical shape. But he played 25 minutes and made sure to communicate when he needed a breather. Unfortunately for the Illini, the fatigue might have shown up on the defensive side a couple of times because he was guilty of leaving Stefanovic for a couple of open threes, which Purdue made him pay for.
Overall, for Curbelo to come back and contribute the way that he did is a major positive for the Illini. Now, it’s about getting him back into basketball shape and working him back into things in a way that is advantageous for the rest of the team. But if Monday was any indication, the Illini just got their best creator back and it came with a bang.

Luke Goode: B-​

Luke Goode got a few minutes in the first half for the Illini and buried a top of the key three to make the score 14-10 in favor of Purdue. However, Goode did pass up an open look later in the half and eventually turned it over.

Coleman Hawkins: C​

Brad Underwood said after the game that Coleman Hawkins is battling the flu and that he was vomiting before the game, so that explains why he played just four minutes on Monday. In the four minutes that Hawkins received, he missed a three-point shot and was a minus eight in the plus-minus.

Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk: A​

Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk didn’t make a very big impact in the stat book, but he played his butt off in the extended minutes of the second half and overtime periods despite being seriously overmatched by Zach Edey and Trevion Williams. Bosmans-Verdonk finished with four points on 1-for-3 shooting from the field and had just four rebounds in his 20 minutes. But he guarded both Edey and Williams really well, poked away a steal in the first overtime period. He also was able to get the Illini an extra possession after diving on the floor for a loose ball.
Bosmans-Verdonk isn’t the most skilled Illini player, but when he’s on the court he always plays really hard. It showed against a Purdue team that has two of the best bigs in the Big Ten, but Bosmans-Verdonk was strong enough in the paint to not let the disadvantages he had shown. When Cockburn picked up his fourth foul, it looked like the game was all but done. But Bosmans-Verdonk didn’t allow that to be the case and he is a major reason the Illini were able to get the game to overtime on Monday.

IU women have ppd their game with MSU
Wed due to Covid on IU's side. Purdue just
played them yesterday at Mackey. I haven't
heard any confirmation of this. It was just
a quick announcement I heard on IU radio
during Neb pregame. Oh, just checked
their schedule & it is ppd. Wonder if it
means anything for Purdue.

IU at Neb tip 6pm BTN

Cmp - PLEASE stop going over top on EVERY screen! Teams are setting high screens a million times on us because we keep going over top! That MUST change. Our guards need to anticipate the screen and quickly slide under it. Especially when 30 ft from basket. Or switch every time.

They are rolling every time and getting easy layups and dunks or their guard drives for layup or kicks out for 3. I just feel we would be better off switching or sliding under the screens. Stay in between ur man and the rim at all costs. Giving up the occasional contested 3 due to sliding under the screen would be much better than layups, dunks, or wide open kickout 3s.

It’s the picture for the Breakdown. His arms raised and he’s celebrating it looks. When was that from? Was it the end of the game?

Didn't see a lot of Furst. Didn't see a lot of Morton, especially in the 2nd half. Newman played more than I expected.

Sorry this is so late. We get kicked out of State Farm after three hours, so I had to relocate.

It’s closed on Mondays, as Gene Keady pointed out before the game, depriving the team of its usual stop back from Champaign.

Too bad, because everyone sure could use some red meat.

Although they did manage to get on some of those great rolls.