COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Some final musings from 12th-ranked Purdue's 70-56 loss at No. 24 Maryland.
• The bottom line is simply this: Purdue's still in a great spot, and what this could have been had the Boilermakers win and what it is now that they didn't should be mutually exclusive from one another.
This was an acceptable loss in the grand scheme of things. It won't hurt Purdue from a seeding perspective and it changes nothing about still having the most favorable path of any Big Ten contender from here on out.
Purdue's fine, as long as that chemical spill of a second half doesn't seep into what comes next.
• Purdue needed to get Trevion Williams involved and keep him involved, especially in the second half. Why it didn't, I don't know. I should have asked after the game but will admit to it getting lost in all else that went on in that second half.
• This was the opposite of what Purdue showed from a poise perspective in wins at Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin — when it needed it most — and to a lesser extent when it was down big to Minnesota or holding off Michigan State at home.
It's really hard to make sense of in the moment.
Obviously nights like tonight have been the occasional reality for Carsen Edwards and that may be something that could be cause for concern for this team once the elimination games of the postseason arrive, but this was on no one player. No one looked like themselves on offense in that second half. The poise and the savvy that have turned around so markedly since the calendar turned just went out the window. Purdue just threw the ball at the basket a couple times. Really uncharacteristic.
But it also may not have mattered, because there was also a Grady Eifert three that went 75 percent in, then out, and two one-foot shots from a 7-3 dude that missed also.
Maybe just one of those nights, I guess.
That's oversimplifying it but there's really no explaining it.
• The bottom line is simply this: Purdue's still in a great spot, and what this could have been had the Boilermakers win and what it is now that they didn't should be mutually exclusive from one another.
This was an acceptable loss in the grand scheme of things. It won't hurt Purdue from a seeding perspective and it changes nothing about still having the most favorable path of any Big Ten contender from here on out.
Purdue's fine, as long as that chemical spill of a second half doesn't seep into what comes next.
• Purdue needed to get Trevion Williams involved and keep him involved, especially in the second half. Why it didn't, I don't know. I should have asked after the game but will admit to it getting lost in all else that went on in that second half.
• This was the opposite of what Purdue showed from a poise perspective in wins at Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin — when it needed it most — and to a lesser extent when it was down big to Minnesota or holding off Michigan State at home.
It's really hard to make sense of in the moment.
Obviously nights like tonight have been the occasional reality for Carsen Edwards and that may be something that could be cause for concern for this team once the elimination games of the postseason arrive, but this was on no one player. No one looked like themselves on offense in that second half. The poise and the savvy that have turned around so markedly since the calendar turned just went out the window. Purdue just threw the ball at the basket a couple times. Really uncharacteristic.
But it also may not have mattered, because there was also a Grady Eifert three that went 75 percent in, then out, and two one-foot shots from a 7-3 dude that missed also.
Maybe just one of those nights, I guess.
That's oversimplifying it but there's really no explaining it.
