COLUMBUS, Ohio - Again, enjoy Caleb Swanigan while you can, folks.
I've said it all season and will again tonight after his lackluster-by-prior-standards game at Ohio State tonight — he was 6-of-14 from the floor and failed to grab 20 rebounds (I kid) — finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, the game-winning free throw and one of the biggest assists of the season. Most importantly, a win.
This is a historic season he's having and an awesome show he's putting on, the unique player that he is, a combination of overwhelming physicality, cut-throat competitiveness and a sharp-as-hell basketball mind to go along with it. Show me another player in college basketball just like him.
Show me a player who can get 20 rebounds four times in a season (so far). Show me a player who can make that freakshow play he made tonight, where he had a right-handed shot blocked, then just tipped it in with his left. Show me a player who can get 16 and 11 on the road in the Big Ten, then leave able to say the biggest play he made was an assist.
It was. Forget the game-winning free throw for a second. If P.J. Thompson doesn't make that three with 1:21 left, Purdue loses this game. Swanigan made the play, luring JaQuan Lyle into a double, then kicking it to Thompson all alone for the biggest shot of the game.
Amidst this Swanigan gushing, Thompson deserves mention, too. That shot was enormous. His four assists, against zero turnovers, were big.
But understand this, too. Thompson is about the size of the 6-foot-5, probably 200-plus-pound Lyle's right shoe. Look what Lyle has done against him the past two seasons: Squat.
Purdue got a big win tonight, one that Vincent Edwards and Dakota Mathias particularly enjoyed. The they're-from-Ohio story is so played out it's been smashed into a fine paste, but these two do have their recorder-running diplomacy hats near-by any time Ohio State comes up. Try as I might after this game, I couldn't get either of them to drop a profane response about beating the in-state school that didn't recruit either of them.
Chips on one's shoulder are a funny thing. Edwards has played well against Ohio State and Michigan in his career, two teams he harbors particular ill will toward. Swanigan plays with Mount Fuji on his shoulder all the time because that's just the way he is. He hates when people try to take his birthright - rebounds - from him. One of the quotes of the year: "There are no teammates when you're rebounding. Just get the ball."
Purdue's effort tonight was exceptional, I thought, and reflected in the rebounding. Nineteen second-half points were the difference in the game, Swanigan and Vincent Edwards were terrors on the offensive glass and guards ran down long rebounds.
And give Isaac Haas credit. His move to the bench was inevitably a mental hurdle for him. He responded with 10 rebounds in 20 minutes. He averages like five this season, so that's good.
Ohio State is a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team, so this wasn't a season-changing win for Purdue. But it was a hard-fought one against a talented team and tricky matchup. Purdue had some luck on its side, but so did the Buckeyes, with Trevor Thompson's fluke layup to tie the game and Marc Loving's H-O-R-S-E shot at the end of the first half.
No win at Ohio State is an insignificant one. No road win, period, is insignificant.
But Sunday comes something more. Wisconsin is the best team in the Big Ten if you ask me, and Purdue gets one crack at the Badgers. A win would be huge for its Big Ten title hopes and NCAA résumé both.
It will have to play better than it did tonight.
Tonight, Purdue gave up way too many tempo fast-break points off missed shots. Way too many. And it was frigid from three-point range in the second half, missing wide-open threes on at least three occasions before Thompson's triple.
But Thursday night's Purdue team was a different one from Sunday's loss to Minnesota. Purdue did everything it had to tonight to win. It did not against the Gophers. Purdue got better defensively as the game went on tonight. It did the opposite against the Gophers.
It will need its very best Sunday against Wisconsin.
I've said it all season and will again tonight after his lackluster-by-prior-standards game at Ohio State tonight — he was 6-of-14 from the floor and failed to grab 20 rebounds (I kid) — finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, the game-winning free throw and one of the biggest assists of the season. Most importantly, a win.
This is a historic season he's having and an awesome show he's putting on, the unique player that he is, a combination of overwhelming physicality, cut-throat competitiveness and a sharp-as-hell basketball mind to go along with it. Show me another player in college basketball just like him.
Show me a player who can get 20 rebounds four times in a season (so far). Show me a player who can make that freakshow play he made tonight, where he had a right-handed shot blocked, then just tipped it in with his left. Show me a player who can get 16 and 11 on the road in the Big Ten, then leave able to say the biggest play he made was an assist.
It was. Forget the game-winning free throw for a second. If P.J. Thompson doesn't make that three with 1:21 left, Purdue loses this game. Swanigan made the play, luring JaQuan Lyle into a double, then kicking it to Thompson all alone for the biggest shot of the game.
Amidst this Swanigan gushing, Thompson deserves mention, too. That shot was enormous. His four assists, against zero turnovers, were big.
But understand this, too. Thompson is about the size of the 6-foot-5, probably 200-plus-pound Lyle's right shoe. Look what Lyle has done against him the past two seasons: Squat.
Purdue got a big win tonight, one that Vincent Edwards and Dakota Mathias particularly enjoyed. The they're-from-Ohio story is so played out it's been smashed into a fine paste, but these two do have their recorder-running diplomacy hats near-by any time Ohio State comes up. Try as I might after this game, I couldn't get either of them to drop a profane response about beating the in-state school that didn't recruit either of them.
Chips on one's shoulder are a funny thing. Edwards has played well against Ohio State and Michigan in his career, two teams he harbors particular ill will toward. Swanigan plays with Mount Fuji on his shoulder all the time because that's just the way he is. He hates when people try to take his birthright - rebounds - from him. One of the quotes of the year: "There are no teammates when you're rebounding. Just get the ball."
Purdue's effort tonight was exceptional, I thought, and reflected in the rebounding. Nineteen second-half points were the difference in the game, Swanigan and Vincent Edwards were terrors on the offensive glass and guards ran down long rebounds.
And give Isaac Haas credit. His move to the bench was inevitably a mental hurdle for him. He responded with 10 rebounds in 20 minutes. He averages like five this season, so that's good.
Ohio State is a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team, so this wasn't a season-changing win for Purdue. But it was a hard-fought one against a talented team and tricky matchup. Purdue had some luck on its side, but so did the Buckeyes, with Trevor Thompson's fluke layup to tie the game and Marc Loving's H-O-R-S-E shot at the end of the first half.
No win at Ohio State is an insignificant one. No road win, period, is insignificant.
But Sunday comes something more. Wisconsin is the best team in the Big Ten if you ask me, and Purdue gets one crack at the Badgers. A win would be huge for its Big Ten title hopes and NCAA résumé both.
It will have to play better than it did tonight.
Tonight, Purdue gave up way too many tempo fast-break points off missed shots. Way too many. And it was frigid from three-point range in the second half, missing wide-open threes on at least three occasions before Thompson's triple.
But Thursday night's Purdue team was a different one from Sunday's loss to Minnesota. Purdue did everything it had to tonight to win. It did not against the Gophers. Purdue got better defensively as the game went on tonight. It did the opposite against the Gophers.
It will need its very best Sunday against Wisconsin.
