It's no secret that Purdue will go only so far this season as its seniors will take it.
But while Robbie Hummel, Lewis Jackson and Ryne Smith all did their thing Wednesday night in a sparsely filled Mackey Arena, this 80-37 laugher over Western Michigan was more about the ensemble.
Purdue owns the MAC.
Its aggregate score in two games - the other being Northern Illinois -against the Big Ten's little sister regionally is 176-71.
That's no grand accomplishment for a program like Purdue's, but Wednesday's romp provided a proving ground of sorts for some of the Boilermakers' "other guys" to step out some.
Games that play out like this one this time of year do provide not only experience for players where experience might otherwise be hard to come by, but also chances for coaches to experiment, to empower players to do different things to see what works.
In a second half Purdue just ran away with, you saw some of that.
The Boilermakers' three-headed center monster of Travis Carroll, Sandi Marcius and Jacob Lawson, a trio Matt Painter seems to destined to use like a manager would his bullpen - matchups, matchups, matchups - totaled 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting.
All three guys had chances to be featured, each getting post touches as Purdue searches for something offensively on the interior; it's obviously a priority to at least try to get those guys involved down low, as Painter lamented after the game the job Purdue is doing getting the ball inside, an exercise that was more reflex than anything when JaJuan Johnson was here.
Purdue looked for Sandi Marcius crashing through the lane often, and it produced a trio of dunks, none of which brought down the backboard, despite the big man's best efforts to do so.
Carroll got at least one post touch on which he made a nice pass out of it. Can't remember what happened off it, maybe a foul.
And Lawson was a frequent target of post feeds, showing a really nice array of moves, sound footwork, effective ball-fakes and a strong drop-step. He finished the plays at angles that weren't exactly bunnies. There's some potential there in that phase of his game, quite obviously, though it has to be noted that this was not Ohio State occupying the visitors' bench tonight. It was a team that went 0-for-the-tournament in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
But Lawson's deal is his athleticism. His Dr. J lay-in tonight - a long, sweeping, mid-air reverse off the glass - was, well, sick.
Again, you can fiddle around with things this time of year to try to decipher what you can and can not, or should and should not, do later, in dicier situations, in games that matter more.
This time of year, you can play bizarre lineups, leaving a bunch of guys out there with no seniors around them to see who can do something offensively. You can have Anthony Johnson handle the ball like a point guard would when you know damn well that ball's going to be in more experienced hands against Michigan State. You can play archetypal lineups with a traditional center (Carroll), a traditional power forward (Lawson) and a "big" small forward (D.J. Byrd), knowing full-well that with the way this team is built, skill trumps all when things get heated. But if that stuff works now, maybe it can help you for a couple possessions later.
Again, this is a win that won't matter much when wins and losses really matter. Iona and Temple, those were good wins. This one, this was a notch on the belt, one only given lasting relevance for the fact it was the day Lewis Jackson dunked. I told you he could. Well, maybe not you, but someone. I distinctly recall having that conversation with someone. Or something.
Anyway, I'm getting old ...
But wins that might not be quality wins, per se, can still be good wins if they're productive. Given that Purdue needed drastic improvement defensively returning to the mainland U.S., this was a step in the right direction. Not that shutting down Western Michigan is chest-beating material, but there was some killer in Purdue in that second half.
The Boilermakers could have gone through the motions after halftime, content to just outscore the Broncos, knowing full well the MAC attack couldn't keep up.
Instead, it quickly doubled an 11-point halftime lead and won by four times that. It never - never - let up defensively. Western Michigan when the game's final 13-plus minutes without a field goal.
Purdue gave up two touchdowns and a two-point conversion and held Western to 8-percent shooting after halftime. Eight freaking percent. The Broncos, in 40 minutes of play, scored on eight field goals. Eight.
Unconventional Western Michigan leading scorer/right tackle Matt Stainbrook came in averaging 20 and 10 or thereabouts; Wednesday night, he dropped the 2 off the first number and the 0 off the second. He had no points and one rebound in 16 foul-plagued minutes.
Purdue was out-rebounded by five in the first half. It outrebounded Western by 10 in the second and did so with its penalty-killing unit salting away much of the half.
Games like these, it's not that you win as much as it's how you win.
Exponentially more challenging games lie ahead, but I'd say Purdue won real good Wednesday night.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2011. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
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Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2011. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
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