ANN ARBOR, Mich. - It was Senior Night in Crisler Arena Saturday.
But as it turned out, it was the wrong set of the seniors that this night would belong to.
We talk about Terone Johnson's special game, and we should, as the sophomore came up huge for Purdue in a huge win and, the Boilermakers hope, gave a glimpse of what still may be ahead for the sophomore the rest of his career.
But if you ask me, this night belonged to Lewis Jackson, Robbie Hummel and Ryne Smith, Purdue's three seniors who'll have their own Night Wednesday.
It's been a difficult season in a lot of senses for these three.
They've dealt with a lot of adversity and lost a lot of games this season they should have won, but for one reason or another, didn't.
Hummel and Jackson have battled injury and as has been written here ad nausea, it's marred Purdue's season. Again, Purdue is 19-10 and we're talking about a "marred" season. Quite a standard that's been set around here, eh?
The two seniors are practicing more now. Had they been months ago, Purdue's probably got at least four more wins and we're talking about a top-five seed instead of just a place at the table.
But the Boilermakers have played their best basketball of the season of late and Saturday's win represented more than just Purdue getting its biggest win of the year.
It represented three seniors who've battled this season and, to quote the esteemed Cypress Hill, ain't goin' out like that.
Purdue led the entire first half, but Michigan roared back to take its first lead with thirteen-and-a-half minutes to play, at which time New Crisler got revved up like an old Chrysler.
On the road in the Big Ten, this is where games lost. But on the road in the Big Ten, this is where a team needs its seniors.
Purdue's delivered.
Coming out of a timeout with the shot clock cut in half, Jackson drove and hit Travis Carroll for a layup. Tie game.
Next trip, Smith gets his man in the air with a pump fake, steps aside and hits a jumper that gives Purdue the lead back.
Later, Robbie Hummel would hit back-to-back threes to more or less win the game. They both came off passes for Jackson, whose absolute command of the game in winning time can be reflected by the fact that all five of his assists in the game came after Michigan had taken the lead, as did four of his nine points. He played the Wolverines like a video game off those ball screens with the game on the line.
At a time when long offensive rebounds were keeping Michigan alive, Smith grabbed three of his four rebounds in the second half.
It would be overstatement to call this game a season-making win. There's too much basketball left to be played. But it does get Purdue in the NCAA Tournament and exorcised at least some of the demons the Boilermakers have dealt with in some agonizing losses this season.
It's been a difficult season.
So much that could have gone wrong this season has, whether it be with players' health, off-the-court shenanigans or whatever.
And fair or not, when things go wrong, it can reflect poorly on seniors, because it's their team.
But Purdue's been a profoundly different team the past six games than it was most of the season prior, the one that inexplicably melted down at Xavier, the one that inexplicably got clobbered at Penn State and the one that just couldn't get over the hump in those losses to Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana, a trio of games Purdue sweeps if those games were to be played again this week.
The roadblocks this year's seniors have faced in their final go-arounds at Purdue have been significant and lesser men might have just accepted their fate along with their NIT bid.
On Saturday, though, the Boilermakers' three seniors showed what we've all known them to be made of.
And I wouldn't want to be Penn State right now.
Considering Purdue has lost to all the State teams (Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State) on the road and beaten all the non-State teams (Northwestern, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois), maybe that bodes well for its chances in the IU game.
Or maybe I'm reaching.
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