MILWAUKEE — With 3:11 to go Saturday night, Purdue trailed Iowa State for the first - and it turned out, only - time, the victim of a Cyclone surge that wiped a 19-point Boilermaker lead.
I can only imagine what the Internet was like.
Let's be clear: This was not Purdue melting down. There weren't Benny Hill Show turnovers, there was no mass hysteria, none of that stuff, just a team that lives on tough threes and dies on tough three resuscitating itself with tough threes, then finding the Deonte Burton matchup knife to turn at the right time. That was all Iowa State.
Then it was all Purdue.
This was the Washington game in Portland all over again. Playing a good and pretty even opponent in front of a ton of its fans, building a big lead, then hanging on for dear life. This was St. Mary's in Omaha. It was the nature of NCAA Tournament basketball.
Purdue's failed two years in a row in the NCAA Tournament. Now, that storyline is on ice. It's succeeded where it hadn't before.
I'm not saying Purdue has topped out — I wouldn't want to poke the bear that is Caleb Swanigan right now if I was another college basketball team — but I am saying that Purdue now has meaningful success to show for this season and the pressure is off if 1-seed Kansas is the draw in freaking Kansas City. It's house-money time.
As we've said before, this has all fallen into place. Purdue's lived up to its seed, it's backed up its rankings of preseason and postseason, it's earned itself a banner for next season and it's kicked to the curb its NCAA Tournament albatross.
This has been a good week for Purdue basketball, and a great week for some of its particulars.
Caleb Swanigan stands to gain so much in this event and he is cashing in. He is doing everything and making those unmistakable will plays.
Vincent Edwards is looking like next in line to be Purdue's star.
The junior class is validated now.
Purdue's validated now.
This is a big deal for Purdue's program, for every aspect of it, and I say that recognizing that expectations at Purdue are high and this is the end-all, be-all of absolutely nothing.
But it was a hell of a deal for Purdue on this night anyway.
I can only imagine what the Internet was like.
Let's be clear: This was not Purdue melting down. There weren't Benny Hill Show turnovers, there was no mass hysteria, none of that stuff, just a team that lives on tough threes and dies on tough three resuscitating itself with tough threes, then finding the Deonte Burton matchup knife to turn at the right time. That was all Iowa State.
Then it was all Purdue.
This was the Washington game in Portland all over again. Playing a good and pretty even opponent in front of a ton of its fans, building a big lead, then hanging on for dear life. This was St. Mary's in Omaha. It was the nature of NCAA Tournament basketball.
Purdue's failed two years in a row in the NCAA Tournament. Now, that storyline is on ice. It's succeeded where it hadn't before.
I'm not saying Purdue has topped out — I wouldn't want to poke the bear that is Caleb Swanigan right now if I was another college basketball team — but I am saying that Purdue now has meaningful success to show for this season and the pressure is off if 1-seed Kansas is the draw in freaking Kansas City. It's house-money time.
As we've said before, this has all fallen into place. Purdue's lived up to its seed, it's backed up its rankings of preseason and postseason, it's earned itself a banner for next season and it's kicked to the curb its NCAA Tournament albatross.
This has been a good week for Purdue basketball, and a great week for some of its particulars.
Caleb Swanigan stands to gain so much in this event and he is cashing in. He is doing everything and making those unmistakable will plays.
Vincent Edwards is looking like next in line to be Purdue's star.
The junior class is validated now.
Purdue's validated now.
This is a big deal for Purdue's program, for every aspect of it, and I say that recognizing that expectations at Purdue are high and this is the end-all, be-all of absolutely nothing.
But it was a hell of a deal for Purdue on this night anyway.
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