MINNEAPOLIS — A few final musings from No. 4 Purdue's 88-73 win at Minnesota, because I know how you like musings.
• I know he's not gonna get the numbers when all's said and done because of his team's balance, but if there's a better scorer in college basketball than Jaden Ivey, I'll be damned. The physicality he's playing with right now as a scorer has really been something, on top of 44-percent three-point shooting, all the fouls he draws, the explosiveness in the open floor and the acrobatics at the rim. He's becoming the total package and getting better by the week.
• I thought that was a clever move by Ben Johnson to start Charlie Daniels almost like an opener in baseball. Burn his fouls off the bat. I mean, it didn't work, but what would have?
• Tells you about the collegial nature Matt Painter has about his colleagues that he basically wrote a recruiting mailer for Minnesota with his post-game comments about Ben Johnson. Lots of mutual respect there between a brand-new coach and the coach who's next up as the voice of the Big Ten once Tom Izzo is done.
• Trevion Williams as a freshman is really the only example I can think of of a Purdue player coming on as strong in the middle of the season as Eric Hunter has. If he keeps this up and Jaden Ivey and Zach Edey continue their trajectories upward, Purdue goes to whole other levels offensively.
• He's so easy to overlook, but Sasha Stefanovic damn near played a perfect game tonight.
• Under a slightly different, and not unrealistic, set of circumstances, Purdue win this game by 30. Minnesota had to shoot out of its mind just to keep it to half that.
• Saying this again, Purdue could easily have half-assed this one, and might have still one. That they came out as sharp as they did was a really good sign.
• I've never been colder in my life, I don't think, than I was during the three-block walk from the parking garage I used. At 3 p.m. God bless these Walrus People who live up here.
Thanks for reading, everybody, and have a good night.
• I know he's not gonna get the numbers when all's said and done because of his team's balance, but if there's a better scorer in college basketball than Jaden Ivey, I'll be damned. The physicality he's playing with right now as a scorer has really been something, on top of 44-percent three-point shooting, all the fouls he draws, the explosiveness in the open floor and the acrobatics at the rim. He's becoming the total package and getting better by the week.
• I thought that was a clever move by Ben Johnson to start Charlie Daniels almost like an opener in baseball. Burn his fouls off the bat. I mean, it didn't work, but what would have?
• Tells you about the collegial nature Matt Painter has about his colleagues that he basically wrote a recruiting mailer for Minnesota with his post-game comments about Ben Johnson. Lots of mutual respect there between a brand-new coach and the coach who's next up as the voice of the Big Ten once Tom Izzo is done.
• Trevion Williams as a freshman is really the only example I can think of of a Purdue player coming on as strong in the middle of the season as Eric Hunter has. If he keeps this up and Jaden Ivey and Zach Edey continue their trajectories upward, Purdue goes to whole other levels offensively.
• He's so easy to overlook, but Sasha Stefanovic damn near played a perfect game tonight.
• Under a slightly different, and not unrealistic, set of circumstances, Purdue win this game by 30. Minnesota had to shoot out of its mind just to keep it to half that.
• Saying this again, Purdue could easily have half-assed this one, and might have still one. That they came out as sharp as they did was a really good sign.
• I've never been colder in my life, I don't think, than I was during the three-block walk from the parking garage I used. At 3 p.m. God bless these Walrus People who live up here.
Thanks for reading, everybody, and have a good night.
