In this Purdue basketball season in which we've had no idea about what's coming next, I think there's something we all should have seen on the horizon: That Robbie Hummel would win a big game for the Boilermakers.
After he missed the go-ahead shot against Michigan, it made me even more certain it would happen. I don't want to use the word "redemption," but it had to be cathartic for Hummel to make a shot like that in the midst of a frustrating run of losses.
It's been a difficult season for the fifth-year senior for a variety of reasons, most of them outside his control, but he's been far too good a player and done far too much for Purdue for him to not have at least a few more moments like Saturday afternoon's in him.
Sure, you thought when that moment came this season it might be something a little more heroic than the (seemingly) stumbling baseline H-O-R-S-E shot he hit with 8.1 seconds left to beat Northwestern, but a shot is a shot and a win is a win, aesthetics be damned.
Hummel's shot won for Purdue what might - might - have been an elimination game of sorts for a team walking a fine, fine line with its NCAA Tournament hopes.
For the first time, Purdue's resume is saddled with bad losses and a loss in Evanston might not have been a bad one, per se - the Wilcats have a good RPI and came in with their own Dance aspirations - but it would have denied Purdue a prime opportunity for a victory at a time when it needs every win it can get.
The shot saved Purdue, coming in a decisive situation, with just two seconds on the clock; it may have saved Purdue in more ways than one. If Purdue makes the NCAA Tournament by the skin of its teeth, that shot could go down as the season's defining moment.
What's either significant, encouraging or discouraging based on your point of view is that Purdue won at Northwestern when you can argue it shouldn't have.
Northwestern is far and away the Big Ten's worst rebounding team. Yet it won the glass, 33-19, and re-established itself in the second half thanks in large part to the offensive rebounds Purdue came into the game knowing it couldn't allow.
Purdue's rebounding was deficient, and it didn't shoot well enough to make up for it.
It's a good day when a jump-shooting team can make just 6-of-20 threes, get out-rebounded by double-digits and still get a road win in the Big Ten.
It certainly helped that Purdue turned it over just five times.
And Purdue was able to score just enough, with its jump-shooting off. Needless to say, Ryne Smith has to get going again if Purdue's going to win the kinds of games it needs to from here on out.
Terone Johnson was a revelation on offense at Northwestern - on defense, not so much - and Anthony Johnson's two threes were huge. He was a 23-percent shooter coming in.
D.J. Byrd made a couple threes and thrived in transition with a couple reverse layups off fast breaks in the second half.
Lewis Jackson was outstanding again today and you kind of wonder if he's not turned a corner in terms of merely managing his back issues, not fixing them. He's played a couple good games in a row now.
On D, Purdue did a good enough job. It was very rarely burned by Northwestern's trademark Princeton stuff and the Wildcats didn't have a big guy burn Purdue with threes, as they so often have. Luka Mirkovic didn't play.
Sixteen Northwestern turnovers loomed large. Byrd did a good job on Big Ten leading scorer John Shurna, and though he didn't finish with any steals, he forced a couple turnovers.
Byrd came up big. But at the end, you did get a glimpse of why it's been difficult for Purdue to go long stretches with him at the 3. It's difficult for him to guard guards and Northwestern knew it, isolating Reggie Hearn on him for Hearn's game-tying half-layup/half-dunk (a lunk?)
But all that shot did when all was said and done was set the stage for Hummel's second game-winner of the season.
Personally, I'll be surprised if it's his last.
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.
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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
This post was edited on 1/28 7:31 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
