INDIANAPOLIS — It's funny what happens sometimes to what we think we know.
Coming into this season, Purdue was supposed to be a top-25-caliber team, which it has been validated as.
But it was supposed to do on the backs of the massive, talented front line of Caleb Swanigan, Isaac Haas and Vincent Edwards, the trio that was going to be the foundation of everything the Boilermakers did.
Saturday in the Crossroads Classic, that pesky Crossroads Classic, Purdue scored its biggest win of the season, a win that'll likely go down as one of its biggest of the whole season, and did it with Haas on the bench for 18 of the second half's 20 minutes and Vincent Edwards coming off the bench for the fourth consecutive game.
That reality does nothing to diminish the value of either of those players, to be clear, but it's not something you'd have anticipated prior to the season.
Not in Edwards' case at least.
But maybe in Haas' you did.
Purdue has played for years now with "ultimate size," and the reason we made such a hullabaloo - that's right, a hullabaloo - over lineup flexibility prior to the reason was because it was going to help this team to not have to.
Last season, Purdue was wed, basically, to having A.J. Hammons or Isaac Haas on the floor at all times. When it didn't - the final 10 minutes at IU last season comes to mind - it was pretty good.
Size can be a profound advantage; it can also be a distinct disadvantage, and Purdue came into the season with very reasonable scenarios under which its best lineups might be small lineups.
It's funny, though, that we're calling lineups that involve someone named "Biggie" playing center as "small" but you get the picture. This is the valuable luxury the unique player that is Caleb Swanigan gives the Boilermakers and today, it really mattered.
The swap of Haas for Swanigan - and the insertion of a surging Vincent Edwards into the starting five to start the second half - changed the game defensively (as did the continually impressive Carsen Edwards), a bandage over the bleeding cut that was Purdue's defense in the first half against a terrific offense that left the Boilermakers chasing their tails at that end of the floor.
You have to give Vincent Edwards a lot of credit here.
As well as Swanigan played today, it was his fellow forward that was the clear difference in this game. When you sit back and take it all in, does Purdue win — hell, does it have a chance? — without the eight points that came directly off his four offensive rebounds.
That was basically Purdue stepping on a $10 bill in the street. Found money when you needed every cent you could get.
This was a big-time win for Purdue, but one that represents the Boilermakers, essentially, making par this non-conference season, assuming incident-free affairs against Western Illinois and Norfolk State, all due respect.
Purdue beat everybody it's ranked higher than currently, lost to the two teams ranked ahead of it.
To keep winning games like this, it needs to be better in first halves. Purdue played itself out of the game in the first half against Louisville and played with fire today in Indy.
But, to Purdue's credit, it figured out a bunch of stuff in a short period of time, showing some real mettle when it needed some, and got out of Bankers Life Fieldhouse with a badly needed win.
It just didn't follow the script we thought it might a few short weeks ago.
Coming into this season, Purdue was supposed to be a top-25-caliber team, which it has been validated as.
But it was supposed to do on the backs of the massive, talented front line of Caleb Swanigan, Isaac Haas and Vincent Edwards, the trio that was going to be the foundation of everything the Boilermakers did.
Saturday in the Crossroads Classic, that pesky Crossroads Classic, Purdue scored its biggest win of the season, a win that'll likely go down as one of its biggest of the whole season, and did it with Haas on the bench for 18 of the second half's 20 minutes and Vincent Edwards coming off the bench for the fourth consecutive game.
That reality does nothing to diminish the value of either of those players, to be clear, but it's not something you'd have anticipated prior to the season.
Not in Edwards' case at least.
But maybe in Haas' you did.
Purdue has played for years now with "ultimate size," and the reason we made such a hullabaloo - that's right, a hullabaloo - over lineup flexibility prior to the reason was because it was going to help this team to not have to.
Last season, Purdue was wed, basically, to having A.J. Hammons or Isaac Haas on the floor at all times. When it didn't - the final 10 minutes at IU last season comes to mind - it was pretty good.
Size can be a profound advantage; it can also be a distinct disadvantage, and Purdue came into the season with very reasonable scenarios under which its best lineups might be small lineups.
It's funny, though, that we're calling lineups that involve someone named "Biggie" playing center as "small" but you get the picture. This is the valuable luxury the unique player that is Caleb Swanigan gives the Boilermakers and today, it really mattered.
The swap of Haas for Swanigan - and the insertion of a surging Vincent Edwards into the starting five to start the second half - changed the game defensively (as did the continually impressive Carsen Edwards), a bandage over the bleeding cut that was Purdue's defense in the first half against a terrific offense that left the Boilermakers chasing their tails at that end of the floor.
You have to give Vincent Edwards a lot of credit here.
As well as Swanigan played today, it was his fellow forward that was the clear difference in this game. When you sit back and take it all in, does Purdue win — hell, does it have a chance? — without the eight points that came directly off his four offensive rebounds.
That was basically Purdue stepping on a $10 bill in the street. Found money when you needed every cent you could get.
This was a big-time win for Purdue, but one that represents the Boilermakers, essentially, making par this non-conference season, assuming incident-free affairs against Western Illinois and Norfolk State, all due respect.
Purdue beat everybody it's ranked higher than currently, lost to the two teams ranked ahead of it.
To keep winning games like this, it needs to be better in first halves. Purdue played itself out of the game in the first half against Louisville and played with fire today in Indy.
But, to Purdue's credit, it figured out a bunch of stuff in a short period of time, showing some real mettle when it needed some, and got out of Bankers Life Fieldhouse with a badly needed win.
It just didn't follow the script we thought it might a few short weeks ago.
