MINNEAPOLIS - Tonight at Minnesota, it was the consummate get-the-win-and-get-the-hell-out-of-here sort of situation, style points or margins of victory be damned.
Purdue's dealing with a good amount of strife right now, some of which has been well documented, some not, and things were set up tonight for this to be one it was just going to have to grind out, no matter what Minnesota's record was coming in.
And that's just what Purdue did: Just enough, though it could have done more, like make layups and dunks. Those blown bunnies made this a game, as did a couple of threes that went three-quarters of the way down.
That, and defense.
No matter what the statistics may say, Purdue is vulnerable to dribble penetration at just about every position, some more than others and tonight, it was exposed again.
We've written here before about the "overcorrection" toward shooting in recruiting and what it's left Purdue with on the wing right now: Good offensive players who are not ideally suited - ideally - suited for man-to-man defense the way Purdue needs man-to-man defense. Doesn't mean they can't be passable defenders one day, but they're not there yet and you see it every time an opponent goes right at Dakota Mathias or Ryan Cline.
This is not a new issue and there's no magic pill that's going to make those guys quicker or just better as one-on-one defenders and so this is Purdue's reality from here on out. It is going to get isolated on the perimeter against any number of different spots and driven on. It has to do better than it's doing now.
(That's why next year's projected roster screams for zone to be revisited, though it has failed at Purdue once now.)
But Purdue did get some stops when it needed them, absolutely stymied Minnesota at the foul line - where the Gophers missed 10 of them, to Purdue's dumb luck as much as anything - and the Boilermakers got every rebound.
Otherwise, thank whatever higher power you subscribe to for Vince Edwards, because he was brilliant tonight.
He had 24, easily could have had 32, and he did it on a bad knee. Maybe he should bruise his other patellar tendon. I kid.
Edwards' mid-season emergence has been pretty damn impressive and it's the reason Purdue won tonight.
Given the circumstances, Purdue being down two important players, someone had to raise their levels of play, and I thought Edwards and Rapheal Davis did that. Not sure Purdue wins this game without Davis' offensive aggressiveness and that blocked shot where he just looked like he was tired of watching his team get scored on, so he just did something about it.
I know it's only one game, but maybe this is the game that gets him going again as a true game-affecter like he was most of last season.
He is Purdue's defensive leader, but he can't do it all. The guys around him have to do better than they were tonight or else Nebraska is going to be a handful for these guys. Davis can't guard Shavon Shields and Andrew White.
Said it before and will say it again: Purdue was good enough to win tonight in the face of some adversity, but it has to be better.
Purdue's dealing with a good amount of strife right now, some of which has been well documented, some not, and things were set up tonight for this to be one it was just going to have to grind out, no matter what Minnesota's record was coming in.
And that's just what Purdue did: Just enough, though it could have done more, like make layups and dunks. Those blown bunnies made this a game, as did a couple of threes that went three-quarters of the way down.
That, and defense.
No matter what the statistics may say, Purdue is vulnerable to dribble penetration at just about every position, some more than others and tonight, it was exposed again.
We've written here before about the "overcorrection" toward shooting in recruiting and what it's left Purdue with on the wing right now: Good offensive players who are not ideally suited - ideally - suited for man-to-man defense the way Purdue needs man-to-man defense. Doesn't mean they can't be passable defenders one day, but they're not there yet and you see it every time an opponent goes right at Dakota Mathias or Ryan Cline.
This is not a new issue and there's no magic pill that's going to make those guys quicker or just better as one-on-one defenders and so this is Purdue's reality from here on out. It is going to get isolated on the perimeter against any number of different spots and driven on. It has to do better than it's doing now.
(That's why next year's projected roster screams for zone to be revisited, though it has failed at Purdue once now.)
But Purdue did get some stops when it needed them, absolutely stymied Minnesota at the foul line - where the Gophers missed 10 of them, to Purdue's dumb luck as much as anything - and the Boilermakers got every rebound.
Otherwise, thank whatever higher power you subscribe to for Vince Edwards, because he was brilliant tonight.
He had 24, easily could have had 32, and he did it on a bad knee. Maybe he should bruise his other patellar tendon. I kid.
Edwards' mid-season emergence has been pretty damn impressive and it's the reason Purdue won tonight.
Given the circumstances, Purdue being down two important players, someone had to raise their levels of play, and I thought Edwards and Rapheal Davis did that. Not sure Purdue wins this game without Davis' offensive aggressiveness and that blocked shot where he just looked like he was tired of watching his team get scored on, so he just did something about it.
I know it's only one game, but maybe this is the game that gets him going again as a true game-affecter like he was most of last season.
He is Purdue's defensive leader, but he can't do it all. The guys around him have to do better than they were tonight or else Nebraska is going to be a handful for these guys. Davis can't guard Shavon Shields and Andrew White.
Said it before and will say it again: Purdue was good enough to win tonight in the face of some adversity, but it has to be better.
