COLLEGE PARK, Md. - I can only speak for myself here but as Purdue entered February, I didn't know if the Boilermakers were good enough to have the sort of month they'll want to have.
I mean, it had played a couple of ranked teams to this point and each time got reduced to a self-inflicted-wound-riddled mess for important, game-deciding stretches of play.
Purdue lost at Maryland today and for some of the same reasons, though not as acute as the issues that undid the Boilermakers in big games previously.
But the team that led the Terrapins by four with less than six minutes left was a team good enough to win big games. The final six minutes, to me, was the better team playing like it. Maryland is better, not so much better that Purdue can't win the rematch, which I think it will, but better nonetheless.
But prior to that point, Purdue was good enough to win even without being good enough to win. In a game in which its strengths weren't strengths and its three-point shooting was a train-wreck - Purdue did shoot 57 percent on two-point shots, though - the Boilermakers were resourceful enough to be ahead against an elite team, on the road. They were good enough on offense, good enough on defense and buoyant enough to keep coming back every time it looked like Maryland might make a move.
And I will tell you: I don't think there's a better environment in the Big Ten than the one Maryland enjoys, maybe rivalry games aside. The energy in that place prior to tip-off was just different.
Purdue was good enough to win today, just not to a man. The moment seemed to be a little too big for some. Johnny Hill struggled after P.J. Thompson got in foul trouble. This might have been a game otherwise where Thompson went 30-plus.
And Caleb Swanigan, for such a good player, such a mixed bag it's been. Look, if he doesn't take a single three-pointer, he's 4-of-5 from the floor, with eight points and seven rebounds and just one turnover in 24 minutes, and we're saying, 'Man, he was good.'"
But he was 0-for-5 from three, and there were some quick ones mixed in. Purdue goes down one, Swanigan misses a quick three, Maryland scores, then Swanigan commits his one turnover of the game, Maryland scores and suddenly, ball game.
He has put an incredible amount of time, energy, sweat and personal sacrifice into transforming as a player, but the transformation will complete itself organically. The proof is out there: When he is a low-volume guy who affects the game with physicality and effort around the basket, who posts hard, draws contact and shares the ball, he is terrific.
Purdue needed a little better from him tonight, just like it needed better from a lot of people tonight.
The good news for Purdue is that despite a lot of stuff working against it, it was good enough to stand toe to toe with one of college basketball's best teams.
I mean, it had played a couple of ranked teams to this point and each time got reduced to a self-inflicted-wound-riddled mess for important, game-deciding stretches of play.
Purdue lost at Maryland today and for some of the same reasons, though not as acute as the issues that undid the Boilermakers in big games previously.
But the team that led the Terrapins by four with less than six minutes left was a team good enough to win big games. The final six minutes, to me, was the better team playing like it. Maryland is better, not so much better that Purdue can't win the rematch, which I think it will, but better nonetheless.
But prior to that point, Purdue was good enough to win even without being good enough to win. In a game in which its strengths weren't strengths and its three-point shooting was a train-wreck - Purdue did shoot 57 percent on two-point shots, though - the Boilermakers were resourceful enough to be ahead against an elite team, on the road. They were good enough on offense, good enough on defense and buoyant enough to keep coming back every time it looked like Maryland might make a move.
And I will tell you: I don't think there's a better environment in the Big Ten than the one Maryland enjoys, maybe rivalry games aside. The energy in that place prior to tip-off was just different.
Purdue was good enough to win today, just not to a man. The moment seemed to be a little too big for some. Johnny Hill struggled after P.J. Thompson got in foul trouble. This might have been a game otherwise where Thompson went 30-plus.
And Caleb Swanigan, for such a good player, such a mixed bag it's been. Look, if he doesn't take a single three-pointer, he's 4-of-5 from the floor, with eight points and seven rebounds and just one turnover in 24 minutes, and we're saying, 'Man, he was good.'"
But he was 0-for-5 from three, and there were some quick ones mixed in. Purdue goes down one, Swanigan misses a quick three, Maryland scores, then Swanigan commits his one turnover of the game, Maryland scores and suddenly, ball game.
He has put an incredible amount of time, energy, sweat and personal sacrifice into transforming as a player, but the transformation will complete itself organically. The proof is out there: When he is a low-volume guy who affects the game with physicality and effort around the basket, who posts hard, draws contact and shares the ball, he is terrific.
Purdue needed a little better from him tonight, just like it needed better from a lot of people tonight.
The good news for Purdue is that despite a lot of stuff working against it, it was good enough to stand toe to toe with one of college basketball's best teams.
