A.J. Hammons came storming down the lane for what was going to be one of those PG-13 sorts of two-handed dunks.
Nope. Missed it.
But the long rebound found its way to Rapheal Davis, who shot a three and canned it.
Johnny Hill might have had another Hammons dunk in mind when he threw a high entry to the 7-footer who might have needed to be a 9-footer to catch this ball.
The pass hit the backboard.
But with a thud the ball came off right to Davis, who went up with it, got fouled and made both foul shots.
It was one of those nights, one of those nights - or halves in this case - where Purdue could do no wrong, after its last second half was the exact opposite. After halftime against Iowa, Purdue could do no right.
But in part because of the dumb luck of the two plays mentioned above - and there's probably something symbolic there about Davis picking up teammates when they messed up, but I'm not good enough at what I do to articulate it properly - Purdue rolled past Michigan, shooting a ridiculous 76 percent in the final 20 minutes.
Three out of every four shots went in. This from a group that was bogging down on offense, turning the ball over too much, playing passive and missing threes in bulk.
Good for Purdue. Here's the thing, though: This has been a season, at least lately, of imbalance.
One good half. One bad half.
Purdue just played a great half, at least at one end of the floor. Consistency is important now. Trade hot-and-cold for steady-as-they-come, that would be nice for Purdue.
But this was important, no matter who Michigan didn't have - and maybe Caris LeVert's replacement was better than he'd have been anyway - or how shaky the Wolverines are on defense anyway.
I wouldn't think Purdue is a fragile group of young men, but it can't be a bad thing for those young men to enjoy this kind of success after the scorched earth of this past weekend.
Almost everyone played well.
The seniors - Davis, Hammons, Hill - were great. Vince Edwards, I thought, was terrific on offense, and one or two makeable buckets from having a really nice game when all was said and done. P.J. Thompson made big shots. Dakota Mathias made more big shots. His body of work in that area is great this season. Isaac Haas did some good things in just 10 minutes. That baton, I'm guessing, is now passed in terms of the starting five, not that it matters all that much. What it means is that Hammons might get screwed out of Sixth Man-of-the-Year.
Kidding.
But there's also now the Caleb Swanigan issue, something that might be a bit of an uncomfortable topic. He is a really good player and can be great, but this big lineup model is showing some flaws. The defensive matchups are becoming glaring and the concept of having a skilled big alongside talented 7-footers to complement one another doesn't work when Swanigan's over-eagerness takes hold and he forces the offense that would ultimately find him if he's patient enough to allow it to.
He just needs to, for lack of a better term, chill out. Easier said than done for one of the most driven people I've covered at Purdue, but a needed aim nonetheless.
He's going to play a lot and he's almost certainly going to start every game he plays in a Purdue uniform. But he needs to reap the benefits of experience on the fly and understand that the Big Ten is a different deal.
He will. He's astute enough to understand it on his own, and if he's not, Matt Painter or Jack Owens or Brandon Brantley or Greg Gary or Rapheal Davis or Roosevelt Barnes will work to get it across to him.
Good win for Purdue, but the story of it remains inextricably linked to that Iowa collapse. But the story of that Iowa game maybe remains to be written.
If that loss ensures that such things are out of Purdue's system now, then maybe it was worth it. It was 16 minutes of bad basketball, on top of some inconsistencies in games prior. People often say that sometimes it takes losing to teach lessons. You'd this group would be past that, but you never know.
We'll see what happens, but Davis called this game, "a must-win for us for the season we want to have."
Easy to say after you've won it.
But even easier to agree with.
He's right.
Nope. Missed it.
But the long rebound found its way to Rapheal Davis, who shot a three and canned it.
Johnny Hill might have had another Hammons dunk in mind when he threw a high entry to the 7-footer who might have needed to be a 9-footer to catch this ball.
The pass hit the backboard.
But with a thud the ball came off right to Davis, who went up with it, got fouled and made both foul shots.
It was one of those nights, one of those nights - or halves in this case - where Purdue could do no wrong, after its last second half was the exact opposite. After halftime against Iowa, Purdue could do no right.
But in part because of the dumb luck of the two plays mentioned above - and there's probably something symbolic there about Davis picking up teammates when they messed up, but I'm not good enough at what I do to articulate it properly - Purdue rolled past Michigan, shooting a ridiculous 76 percent in the final 20 minutes.
Three out of every four shots went in. This from a group that was bogging down on offense, turning the ball over too much, playing passive and missing threes in bulk.
Good for Purdue. Here's the thing, though: This has been a season, at least lately, of imbalance.
One good half. One bad half.
Purdue just played a great half, at least at one end of the floor. Consistency is important now. Trade hot-and-cold for steady-as-they-come, that would be nice for Purdue.
But this was important, no matter who Michigan didn't have - and maybe Caris LeVert's replacement was better than he'd have been anyway - or how shaky the Wolverines are on defense anyway.
I wouldn't think Purdue is a fragile group of young men, but it can't be a bad thing for those young men to enjoy this kind of success after the scorched earth of this past weekend.
Almost everyone played well.
The seniors - Davis, Hammons, Hill - were great. Vince Edwards, I thought, was terrific on offense, and one or two makeable buckets from having a really nice game when all was said and done. P.J. Thompson made big shots. Dakota Mathias made more big shots. His body of work in that area is great this season. Isaac Haas did some good things in just 10 minutes. That baton, I'm guessing, is now passed in terms of the starting five, not that it matters all that much. What it means is that Hammons might get screwed out of Sixth Man-of-the-Year.
Kidding.
But there's also now the Caleb Swanigan issue, something that might be a bit of an uncomfortable topic. He is a really good player and can be great, but this big lineup model is showing some flaws. The defensive matchups are becoming glaring and the concept of having a skilled big alongside talented 7-footers to complement one another doesn't work when Swanigan's over-eagerness takes hold and he forces the offense that would ultimately find him if he's patient enough to allow it to.
He just needs to, for lack of a better term, chill out. Easier said than done for one of the most driven people I've covered at Purdue, but a needed aim nonetheless.
He's going to play a lot and he's almost certainly going to start every game he plays in a Purdue uniform. But he needs to reap the benefits of experience on the fly and understand that the Big Ten is a different deal.
He will. He's astute enough to understand it on his own, and if he's not, Matt Painter or Jack Owens or Brandon Brantley or Greg Gary or Rapheal Davis or Roosevelt Barnes will work to get it across to him.
Good win for Purdue, but the story of it remains inextricably linked to that Iowa collapse. But the story of that Iowa game maybe remains to be written.
If that loss ensures that such things are out of Purdue's system now, then maybe it was worth it. It was 16 minutes of bad basketball, on top of some inconsistencies in games prior. People often say that sometimes it takes losing to teach lessons. You'd this group would be past that, but you never know.
We'll see what happens, but Davis called this game, "a must-win for us for the season we want to have."
Easy to say after you've won it.
But even easier to agree with.
He's right.
