I don't know how this season's going to end up for Purdue.
But if the buzz from Saturday's romp over Indiana fades and the Boilermakers slip back to their maddening inconsistency and finish the season underachieving, then at least they'll have February 15, something to show for what would be a disappointing season if things turn out that way.
For anyone with any association with Purdue, but especially its players and fans, Saturday night in a living, breathing Mackey Arena may as well have been Mardi Gras. That no one ever has any idea what to expect from this Purdue team this year only added an element of pleasant surprise that surely added to the elation that came with the home team dominating the second half and going up by more than two dozen, returning the favor for last season's blowout losses.
This Indiana team is an entirely different one than the prior two teams that just completely punked Purdue out the past four meetings, so the recent past could not be taken as any sort of predictor of what was to come.
But still, no one knew what to really expect from a pair of teams that have been brutally erratic.
No one could have seen this coming from Purdue.
Were there any signs that its best overall game of the Big Ten season was forthcoming? If there were, I missed them. Maybe I was tweeting.
Shooting had a lot to do with it. Sterling Carter was brilliant tonight and Purdue did what it wanted against Indiana for the most part, and did it with its foundation player, A.J. Hammons, on the bench.
Yes, Purdue made its shots, 10-of-18 from three-point range for the game and 57-percent from anywhere after halftime. But it's how those shots came about that mattered, too. Purdue played solid, smart, unselfishness basketball, I thought, even though that turnover total (15) sticks out like a sore thumb, a product in part of Saturday's welcomed garbage time.
But what the Boilermakers did really well Saturday on offense was simply function. Terone Johnson did some nice things as the middle man against Indiana's zone, the part of the game I figured Purdue might struggle with.
Ronnie Johnson did a nice job finding people, though he keeps getting jobbed out of assists.
And Bryson Scott was terrific, playing under control and really buying into the role of facilitator and excelling at it. The scoring will come for him. He will leave this season as a profoundly more well-rounded player.
But the best pass of the game may or may not have even been one: Errick Peck tipping Basil Smotherman's missed free throw back to the streaking freshman for a quick pair of garbage points right before the half.
Don't tell me that didn't impact Purdue for the better. Hell yes, it did, same way that end-of-half debacle at Michigan impacted Purdue for the, uh, not better.
Buoyed by that momentum play to end the first half, Purdue blew IU out after halftime, the sort of run not often seen from the Boilermakers this season. Wait, never seen.
Purdue figured Indiana out. It just did.
It played its best defensive game of the season, if you ask me, and played very well on offense. It did it without Hammons for the most part and did it with unconventional lineups. How often have Peck and Smotherman played together this season? Not much. They combined for the most pivotal play of the game. When Ronnie Johnson threw a hockey assist to Scott, who then hit Peck a transition and-one, it was a picturesque fast break run with both point guards on the floor.
Purdue thrived in transition, a novelty lately.
I'm rambling.
As I said in the Wrap Video, this wasn't a "must win" but winning was highly recommended.
Indiana's in much the same position Purdue was last year as it comes off having a couple of really good teams.
The Hoosiers aren't playing well, they struggle on the road and they're young. Purdue had the one and only meeting between the two this (regular) season on its home floor.
It was too good an opportunity to mess up.
Purdue did anything but.
Need to say something about Carter.
Nice job, Cameron Dollar.
Carter was fantastic tonight and has now, by my count, probably directly led to three of four wins for Purdue this season.
The guy who this rivalry meant the least to growing up - which is to say nothing - is the guy who came up biggest.
But then again, for Purdue to play the way it played Saturday night, a lot of people had to come up big. They did.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2014. 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.
But if the buzz from Saturday's romp over Indiana fades and the Boilermakers slip back to their maddening inconsistency and finish the season underachieving, then at least they'll have February 15, something to show for what would be a disappointing season if things turn out that way.
For anyone with any association with Purdue, but especially its players and fans, Saturday night in a living, breathing Mackey Arena may as well have been Mardi Gras. That no one ever has any idea what to expect from this Purdue team this year only added an element of pleasant surprise that surely added to the elation that came with the home team dominating the second half and going up by more than two dozen, returning the favor for last season's blowout losses.
This Indiana team is an entirely different one than the prior two teams that just completely punked Purdue out the past four meetings, so the recent past could not be taken as any sort of predictor of what was to come.
But still, no one knew what to really expect from a pair of teams that have been brutally erratic.
No one could have seen this coming from Purdue.
Were there any signs that its best overall game of the Big Ten season was forthcoming? If there were, I missed them. Maybe I was tweeting.
Shooting had a lot to do with it. Sterling Carter was brilliant tonight and Purdue did what it wanted against Indiana for the most part, and did it with its foundation player, A.J. Hammons, on the bench.
Yes, Purdue made its shots, 10-of-18 from three-point range for the game and 57-percent from anywhere after halftime. But it's how those shots came about that mattered, too. Purdue played solid, smart, unselfishness basketball, I thought, even though that turnover total (15) sticks out like a sore thumb, a product in part of Saturday's welcomed garbage time.
But what the Boilermakers did really well Saturday on offense was simply function. Terone Johnson did some nice things as the middle man against Indiana's zone, the part of the game I figured Purdue might struggle with.
Ronnie Johnson did a nice job finding people, though he keeps getting jobbed out of assists.
And Bryson Scott was terrific, playing under control and really buying into the role of facilitator and excelling at it. The scoring will come for him. He will leave this season as a profoundly more well-rounded player.
But the best pass of the game may or may not have even been one: Errick Peck tipping Basil Smotherman's missed free throw back to the streaking freshman for a quick pair of garbage points right before the half.
Don't tell me that didn't impact Purdue for the better. Hell yes, it did, same way that end-of-half debacle at Michigan impacted Purdue for the, uh, not better.
Buoyed by that momentum play to end the first half, Purdue blew IU out after halftime, the sort of run not often seen from the Boilermakers this season. Wait, never seen.
Purdue figured Indiana out. It just did.
It played its best defensive game of the season, if you ask me, and played very well on offense. It did it without Hammons for the most part and did it with unconventional lineups. How often have Peck and Smotherman played together this season? Not much. They combined for the most pivotal play of the game. When Ronnie Johnson threw a hockey assist to Scott, who then hit Peck a transition and-one, it was a picturesque fast break run with both point guards on the floor.
Purdue thrived in transition, a novelty lately.
I'm rambling.
As I said in the Wrap Video, this wasn't a "must win" but winning was highly recommended.
Indiana's in much the same position Purdue was last year as it comes off having a couple of really good teams.
The Hoosiers aren't playing well, they struggle on the road and they're young. Purdue had the one and only meeting between the two this (regular) season on its home floor.
It was too good an opportunity to mess up.
Purdue did anything but.
Need to say something about Carter.
Nice job, Cameron Dollar.
Carter was fantastic tonight and has now, by my count, probably directly led to three of four wins for Purdue this season.
The guy who this rivalry meant the least to growing up - which is to say nothing - is the guy who came up biggest.
But then again, for Purdue to play the way it played Saturday night, a lot of people had to come up big. They did.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2014. 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.
