IOWA CITY - Need to keep this one brief tonight, ‘cause the candle’s just about burned down to the wick here, but I think it’s needed tonight to give special mention to the two heroes of Purdue’s narrow Big Ten-opening win at Iowa: D.J. Byrd and John Hart,
Look, I know the magnitude of Hart’s contribution is relative to expectation after he’d become an afterthought of sorts to begin this season, mostly due to injury.
Did he do more to help Purdue win tonight than Robbie Hummel did? No. Does Purdue win within the eight points and the good minutes he chipped in off the bench. Well, we can’t say, but the Boilermakers won by three if you didn’t notice.
Good for Hart.
We can absolutely say that Purdue doesn’t win tonight without Byrd’s brilliant effort, another guy who broke out of what’s had to be a maddening season so far, because of injury and the apparent struggle to carve out his niche on his team with a star power forward and a lot of guards.
Byrd looked fast tonight. He looked confident and aggressive scoring in a variety of ways.
A left-handed finish in the lane in a one-possession game on the road in the Big Ten? Are you serious? Wow.
Good for Byrd.
Look, a loss tonight wouldn’t have shut down the program, but Purdue has to get all the wins it can get, especially on the road. Dropping another to one of the Big Ten’s bottom-feeders would have put this team in a bad position.
Closing this one out doesn’t change what happened at Xavier or against Butler and at some point those games have to drift from everyone’s mind. But you have to think Wednesday night’s survival either gives Purdue added confidence next time it’s in such a situation or at least dulls the chances of doubt creeping in when it does.
This wasn’t Ohio State Purdue beat tonight, but I’m not just regurgitating coachspeak and playerspeak when I harp on any road win being a good win. They simply are.
In the Big Ten especially, you’re almost supposed to lose on the road, maybe not at Iowa in late December, but in other places.
Purdue does need to get the most winnable of those games remaining, because the jury remains out on this group until it shows it can defend better. The number of fouls and easy baskets given up to Iowa ? but credit the Hawkeyes for pushing the tempo, especially in the first half, and making most of their 795 free throws ? is cause for consternation leaving the Hawkeye State.
But Purdue won this game with offense, with everyone contributing, from Hummel to Lewis Jackson, to Byrd and Hart, Kelsey Barlow and even Jacob Lawson and Travis Carroll.
Carroll’s short hook just before the halftime buzzer was a nice way to send Purdue into the locker room. Lawson’s bucket in the final minutes came when Iowa was within one possession.
But there’s just no question Purdue has a long way to go defensively this far into the season. Its hope has to be that it can improve and win.
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