CHICAGO — A few final musings from Purdue's 75-73 loss to Minnesota tonight at the Big Ten Tournament.
• Not a great look for Purdue, getting the boot so quickly from the Big Ten Tournament right before the NCAA Tournament, but not the end of the world by any means. Now, should it happen in the NCAA Tournament, then that would be another story. Its seeding could insulate it, though, against a first-round upset, but if you're watching this team the past month thinking it's set up for NCAA Tournament success, then you're certainly looking on the bright side.
This team has had a hell of a year, overachieved, and maybe maxed out its resources, but we'll see. I think there's gonna be a lot of teams in the field it's capable of losing to, also.
But the one-and-done in a close game in Game 1 of the Big Ten Tournament wasn't a good look in the final outing before the NCAA Tournament.
• It's too bad for Carsen Edwards and Purdue alike that when he looked to make plays for others, a couple turnovers came from it. I haven't seen a replay yet of his first-half pass to Trevion Williams or the one in the second half to Matt Haarms to get a better look at what happened — you probably know more than one, having replay — but both were situations where Edwards saw something and tried to make it happen, only for two of his six turnovers to result from.
Execution is obviously half the battle, but Purdue needs him thinking that way when opportunities present themselves.
Obviously, the back issue may have mattered tonight, but the numbers — 4-of-17 shooting, six turnovers — aren't outliers this season.
Again, it reminds of the vulnerability Purdue carries into the NCAA Tournament, but also is a credit to its team that it's been able to win — and in some cases, almost win — despite its star's struggles.
• Purdue's become accustomed to Grady Eifert making shots. The fact he couldn't tonight, I think, mattered, because I think the Boilermakers really would have liked to exploit Minnesota's bigs by shooting over them and Eifert got some good looks, as did Aaron Wheeler on the one he knocked down.
Eifert did do a good job passing on shots in order to get the ball inside, and that got Matt Haarms going in the first half offensively.
• The success Purdue had generating offense with Nojel Eastern might have been a looksee at the Boilermakers next season. Obviously we don't know yet what their personnel will look like, and matchups always matter, but Purdue found something there tonight, and it might be something to build more into the offense next season. With Carsen Edwards laboring tonight, Purdue changed its M.O. offensively there for a bit and nearly won the game because of it. Those post possessions were part of an Eastern-fueled 9-0 run that gave Purdue the lead late.
• As it has done this season, Purdue flipped its 5 and 4 defensively against the Gophers to get Matt Haarms' length on Jordan Murphy. I think they probably also like having Grady Eifert off Murphy because he's their best help defender, and that was reflected in the first game between these teams. Conceptually, the matchup makes some sense, but it obviously didn't work tonight. Murphy got his shots up over Haarms, who provided a lot of body for Murphy to get into and a lot of verticality for him to get under, especially a few times he was able to follow his own misses.
I think you just chalk this loss up to Jordan Murphy being the difference in an evenly contested game between two pretty evenly matched teams.
• I don't know how many teams there are out there with Minnesota's blend of size and ability to play really fast, so if you're looking in the issues Purdue has had with the Gophers for red flags come the NCAA Tournament, I don't know if it's something easily replicated. Or if it is, it might not be for a couple rounds down the road.
• I think the productive things that Aaron Wheeler and Trevion Williams did in this game are real positive things for Purdue heading into the NCAA Tournament. Taking Northwestern into account, too, a couple young guys are trending well at the right time.
• Not a great look for Purdue, getting the boot so quickly from the Big Ten Tournament right before the NCAA Tournament, but not the end of the world by any means. Now, should it happen in the NCAA Tournament, then that would be another story. Its seeding could insulate it, though, against a first-round upset, but if you're watching this team the past month thinking it's set up for NCAA Tournament success, then you're certainly looking on the bright side.
This team has had a hell of a year, overachieved, and maybe maxed out its resources, but we'll see. I think there's gonna be a lot of teams in the field it's capable of losing to, also.
But the one-and-done in a close game in Game 1 of the Big Ten Tournament wasn't a good look in the final outing before the NCAA Tournament.
• It's too bad for Carsen Edwards and Purdue alike that when he looked to make plays for others, a couple turnovers came from it. I haven't seen a replay yet of his first-half pass to Trevion Williams or the one in the second half to Matt Haarms to get a better look at what happened — you probably know more than one, having replay — but both were situations where Edwards saw something and tried to make it happen, only for two of his six turnovers to result from.
Execution is obviously half the battle, but Purdue needs him thinking that way when opportunities present themselves.
Obviously, the back issue may have mattered tonight, but the numbers — 4-of-17 shooting, six turnovers — aren't outliers this season.
Again, it reminds of the vulnerability Purdue carries into the NCAA Tournament, but also is a credit to its team that it's been able to win — and in some cases, almost win — despite its star's struggles.
• Purdue's become accustomed to Grady Eifert making shots. The fact he couldn't tonight, I think, mattered, because I think the Boilermakers really would have liked to exploit Minnesota's bigs by shooting over them and Eifert got some good looks, as did Aaron Wheeler on the one he knocked down.
Eifert did do a good job passing on shots in order to get the ball inside, and that got Matt Haarms going in the first half offensively.
• The success Purdue had generating offense with Nojel Eastern might have been a looksee at the Boilermakers next season. Obviously we don't know yet what their personnel will look like, and matchups always matter, but Purdue found something there tonight, and it might be something to build more into the offense next season. With Carsen Edwards laboring tonight, Purdue changed its M.O. offensively there for a bit and nearly won the game because of it. Those post possessions were part of an Eastern-fueled 9-0 run that gave Purdue the lead late.
• As it has done this season, Purdue flipped its 5 and 4 defensively against the Gophers to get Matt Haarms' length on Jordan Murphy. I think they probably also like having Grady Eifert off Murphy because he's their best help defender, and that was reflected in the first game between these teams. Conceptually, the matchup makes some sense, but it obviously didn't work tonight. Murphy got his shots up over Haarms, who provided a lot of body for Murphy to get into and a lot of verticality for him to get under, especially a few times he was able to follow his own misses.
I think you just chalk this loss up to Jordan Murphy being the difference in an evenly contested game between two pretty evenly matched teams.
• I don't know how many teams there are out there with Minnesota's blend of size and ability to play really fast, so if you're looking in the issues Purdue has had with the Gophers for red flags come the NCAA Tournament, I don't know if it's something easily replicated. Or if it is, it might not be for a couple rounds down the road.
• I think the productive things that Aaron Wheeler and Trevion Williams did in this game are real positive things for Purdue heading into the NCAA Tournament. Taking Northwestern into account, too, a couple young guys are trending well at the right time.
