EAST LANSING, Mich. - Did Purdue's 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' journey to Michigan State have a hand in the Boilermakers getting absolutely blasted in the second half?
Of course it did.
Your average Boilermaker probably got two hours of sleep last night, then hopped on a bus at 4:45 a.m. for the five-hour drive to Lansing, hopping straight off their charter onto the Breslin Center floor for shoot-around.
Think about that.
If you're a pitcher and get two hours of sleep, you're not going to pitch as well.
If you're a chef and get two hours of sleep, you're not going to cook as well.
If you're an accountant and get two hours of sleep, you're not going to carry the 1 as well.
And if you're me and get two hours of sleep ... well, it can't get much worse, can it?
Point being, yes, Purdue's ability to compete at Michigan State was severely hindered by its inability to sleep before Michigan State. It has to be a reason the Boilermakers couldn't make a jump shot to save themselves Saturday afternoon.
Though no one wanted to admit it - and thus make an "excuse," albeit a perfectly reasonable one; the difference between an excuse and reality is what?) - this absolutely was a factor in the game.
But the better question then is, what if Purdue had gotten its full eight hours and an uneventful flight into Michigan's state capitol Friday night? What then?
Well, there's no telling, but the guess here is the outcome wouldn't have been different, just by a more respectable margin.
This probably was a game Purdue wasn't getting anyway, one of those games on the schedule that's found money if you can get it, but acceptable damage when all is said and done if not.
Michigan State is very good - good enough to have just won 15 in a row - and a very difficult matchup for Purdue.
The Spartans' size inside was too much for the Boilermaker interior players to handle, even though Purdue kept itself in the game for a half solely on the back of its offensive rebounding.
But across the board, Purdue just can't match Michigan State's bodies. Not inside, where Adreian Payne and Derrick Nix are loads and Draymond Green needs that barrel chest to accommodate that gigantic heart of his.
Purdue had to keep those guys from getting the ball at the basket. Instead, the Spartans got the ball seemingly pretty easily to Nix and Payne inside a couple feet, giving Michigan State easy points.
The only Boilermaker big man who could match those guys in stature in Sandi Marcius, who came in early and did some things offensively and grabbed two quick defensive rebounds, but also gave up two easy ones down low.
On the perimeter, this may have been an eye-opener for Anthony Johnson in particular, a revelation that he's just not ready from a physical standpoint for a brawl like this.
Looking inside, Michigan State turned it over a bunch of times early. Matt Painter may have been dead-on when he suggested those giveaways to be a product more of the Spartans' own over-eagerness to attack favorable matchups.
Purdue hung in as long as its offensive rebounding allowed it to, and amazingly lost by 25 while shooting 80 percent from the foul line over 24 attempts.
But those were the only shots the Boilermakers could make.
You have to start feeling bad for Robbie Hummel, not only because soul-less idiots at Iowa and now Michigan State have taunted him over injuries, but because this 39-percent shooting season certainly isn't what he had in mind - or deserved - in his second go-around at a senior year. And he's not guaranteed to even go out in an NCAA Tournament.
This was a unique circumstance with the travel difficulties, but he does not look full-strength physically, whether he'll ever admit it or not, and he'd need to be, and then some, to best handle the role he's being asked to play on this team.
A good night's rest will do him well, as it will everyone.
Purdue will need it.
The good news is Purdue just lost. Considering its every-other-game results of late, that would bode well for Tuesday's home game against a Michigan team that's good, but doesn't always play that way on the road.
The really interesting game the rest of the way on Purdue's schedule is going to be Michigan State's return to Mackey Arena.
This game got pretty testy as there seems to be some real animosity bubbling over here with these programs and their fan bases. Michigan State fans and even media (or quasi-media) seem convinced Painter turned Izzo in for NCAA violations related to Branden Dawson's recruitment. Maybe they did, I didn't know.
Either way, Purdue's really going to want to beat Michigan State in a couple weeks and here's guessing the Paint Crew is going to have some material to work with.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2012. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
Check out GoldandBlack.com on
