Some final musings on Purdue's 73-63 win over sixth-ranked Michigan State ...
• This is one of the great Purdue wins I've seen over the years, not just because of the dominance of the performance — they've kicked the hell out of Michigan State in Mackey Arena before a few times – but just in terms of what it means for a team that's improving real-time, riding a decidedly upward trajectory, as dramatic an in-season turnaround (at least this "late" in the season) as I've seen since Robbie Hummel's second senior year.
But also in how it happened. Purdue has been a damn good offensive team this season and it's brought its defense up to code to the point it can win more consistently.
This one was simply defense and rebounding and toughness and again, beating an elite opponent at its own game when that's not necessarily your identity, that just speaks to a team growing into a sixth sense for winning, and you'd never have seen that coming a month ago.
• Michigan State messed up. It was way too early to start fouling Nojel Eastern. I know it's easy to say that after things resolved themselves, but the way Michigan State was defending, with that much time on the clock, with all the momentum on your side, that was just a bad decision by Tom Izzo. I hear what he's saying about Michigan State's energy level after its big run, but that still doesn't add up. You have to make Purdue execute when Purdue hasn't been executing.
Anyway, Eastern won this game for Purdue. He simply did, because it was those free throws that steered the game back in the Boilermakers' direction, and Michigan State should be kicking itself right now for simply giving it to them.
Eastern is now shooting 62 percent from the line in Big Ten play, still not great, but a hell of a lot better than the alternative. You have to give him credit for his improvement, but also the fortitude to not succumb to his struggles of the past in big moments. That can't be easy to do.
• Look, anybody who's watched Michigan State this year knew that run was coming. Did you see what they did to Iowa, for crying out loud?
Purdue obviously wasn't perfect during that 24-5 run, but that was so much more about the Spartans than it was the Boilermakers.
• I think the magnitude of this win is amplified by supply, if that makes sense. This a résumé-centerpiece sort of win, and there are no other games left on the schedule in the regular season that would have fit that description, @Maryland being the next best thing.
When Purdue came out of non-conference play without a single win that truly mattered, it was difficult to really buy in to what Purdue was saying about all the opportunities the Big Ten season would afford, because Purdue hadn't shown much reason to believe it could win those games.
Obviously, the improvement since then has been significant.
• Have you ever seen a player impact a game more in as short a period of time, just by diving on the floor that Grady Eifert at the start of the second half?
• You know, much has been made of Carsen Edwards needing to play better against Michigan State this time around, but Aaron Wheeler really struggled in that game, too. Really struggled. For him to make the shots he made and the energy play he made this time around, hell, he might have been the difference in the game.
• Again, Edwards didn't have a great game offensively, but you can't tell his intensity in the first half didn't rub off on people. One of themes we sort of applied to him this season whether he'd agree with it or not, is that he needed to make people around him better. There's a lot of ways to do that, and example-setting is certainly one of them.
• You have to give Matt Haarms a ton of great. Michigan State has a front-line full of barrel-chested men who all really ought to be wearing black "Security" T-shirts a size too small, and Haarms' body type is the opposite. For him to be the toughest among them really said something about him today.
• Trevion Williams is 1-of-6 today, but I'll say this about his stats: He's going to have a seriously warped field goal percentage at the end of the day most days when he gets his hand on so many offensive rebounds that get tapped back at the basket and count as shots. Like his 4-of-11 at Wisconsin. Funny how that works.
• So Purdue's now a game out of first in the Big Ten, behind Michigan State and Michigan and those two teams play each other twice still. The Boilermakers have one game left against a ranked opponent (at Maryland) and are playing as well as anyone in the league right now.
What's to say they can't win this thing?
• This is one of the great Purdue wins I've seen over the years, not just because of the dominance of the performance — they've kicked the hell out of Michigan State in Mackey Arena before a few times – but just in terms of what it means for a team that's improving real-time, riding a decidedly upward trajectory, as dramatic an in-season turnaround (at least this "late" in the season) as I've seen since Robbie Hummel's second senior year.
But also in how it happened. Purdue has been a damn good offensive team this season and it's brought its defense up to code to the point it can win more consistently.
This one was simply defense and rebounding and toughness and again, beating an elite opponent at its own game when that's not necessarily your identity, that just speaks to a team growing into a sixth sense for winning, and you'd never have seen that coming a month ago.
• Michigan State messed up. It was way too early to start fouling Nojel Eastern. I know it's easy to say that after things resolved themselves, but the way Michigan State was defending, with that much time on the clock, with all the momentum on your side, that was just a bad decision by Tom Izzo. I hear what he's saying about Michigan State's energy level after its big run, but that still doesn't add up. You have to make Purdue execute when Purdue hasn't been executing.
Anyway, Eastern won this game for Purdue. He simply did, because it was those free throws that steered the game back in the Boilermakers' direction, and Michigan State should be kicking itself right now for simply giving it to them.
Eastern is now shooting 62 percent from the line in Big Ten play, still not great, but a hell of a lot better than the alternative. You have to give him credit for his improvement, but also the fortitude to not succumb to his struggles of the past in big moments. That can't be easy to do.
• Look, anybody who's watched Michigan State this year knew that run was coming. Did you see what they did to Iowa, for crying out loud?
Purdue obviously wasn't perfect during that 24-5 run, but that was so much more about the Spartans than it was the Boilermakers.
• I think the magnitude of this win is amplified by supply, if that makes sense. This a résumé-centerpiece sort of win, and there are no other games left on the schedule in the regular season that would have fit that description, @Maryland being the next best thing.
When Purdue came out of non-conference play without a single win that truly mattered, it was difficult to really buy in to what Purdue was saying about all the opportunities the Big Ten season would afford, because Purdue hadn't shown much reason to believe it could win those games.
Obviously, the improvement since then has been significant.
• Have you ever seen a player impact a game more in as short a period of time, just by diving on the floor that Grady Eifert at the start of the second half?
• You know, much has been made of Carsen Edwards needing to play better against Michigan State this time around, but Aaron Wheeler really struggled in that game, too. Really struggled. For him to make the shots he made and the energy play he made this time around, hell, he might have been the difference in the game.
• Again, Edwards didn't have a great game offensively, but you can't tell his intensity in the first half didn't rub off on people. One of themes we sort of applied to him this season whether he'd agree with it or not, is that he needed to make people around him better. There's a lot of ways to do that, and example-setting is certainly one of them.
• You have to give Matt Haarms a ton of great. Michigan State has a front-line full of barrel-chested men who all really ought to be wearing black "Security" T-shirts a size too small, and Haarms' body type is the opposite. For him to be the toughest among them really said something about him today.
• Trevion Williams is 1-of-6 today, but I'll say this about his stats: He's going to have a seriously warped field goal percentage at the end of the day most days when he gets his hand on so many offensive rebounds that get tapped back at the basket and count as shots. Like his 4-of-11 at Wisconsin. Funny how that works.
• So Purdue's now a game out of first in the Big Ten, behind Michigan State and Michigan and those two teams play each other twice still. The Boilermakers have one game left against a ranked opponent (at Maryland) and are playing as well as anyone in the league right now.
What's to say they can't win this thing?
