INDIANAPOLIS - OK, let's start over after Conseco, err, Bankers Life, went dark on me earlier.
Back home now running on fumes and caffeine so we'll keep this simple from Purdue's Big Ten Tournament loss to Ohio State Friday in whatever that building is called now.
The moral of the story tonight, friends, was that Ohio State is better. It just is.
It's just bigger, stronger, more physical, more talented and more skilled than Purdue and the overwhelming majority of other schools out there.
The Boilermakers didn't play terribly. They made 12 threes and turned the ball over just five times.
Purdue couldn't stop Ohio State. But there's a difference between bad defense and great offense and this was a combination thereof.
The Boilermakers probably played well enough to beat people.
They just didn't play near well enough to beat Ohio State.
If you want to gripe about recruiting or something after Purdue got its lunch money taken from it by Jared Sullinger, then go ahead. Your refrain is one damn near every team who plays against him can sing, and it's the same refrain sang last season by the Boilermakers' opponents about JaJuan Johnson.
Jared Sullinger is one of the best players in the country; there's maybe only three or four players like him out there and all due respect to Purdue, it doesn't have any of them.
So, no, Purdue couldn't match up with Sullinger. That is not a problem exclusive to those in West Lafayette.
Last time these two teams met, Ohio State scored 84. So if you were surprised Purdue gave up 88 tonight, you must have missed that last game.
Nothing that happened Friday night in Indianapolis should have come as much of a surprise, which is more a credit to the Buckeyes than it is an indictment of the Boilermakers.
And the fact that Purdue, with its best player clearly not himself after a flare-up of tendonitis and the physical and emotional toll it took, it's a bit of a wonder the Boilermakers were even still in position to win in the final 10 minutes.
Purdue could never quite get over the top, though, and you can put that solely on Sullinger and to a lesser extent, Deshaun Thomas, professionals who are merely biding their time in college, enjoying the physical dominance they can wield, men playing among boys.
Maybe if Purdue had gotten that big bucket, or more importantly, that big stop, the couple dozen Boilermaker fans at the game in Indianapolis might have gotten into it and Purdue would have had a chance at the end, I don't know.
But that never happened. Overwhelming physical advantages won out, as they have a funny way of doing more often than not, and Purdue was sent home to await its Selection Sunday fate.
Obligatory smoke-blowing time: You know, with Hummel having some apparent issues with his knee and with Lewis Jackson coming down hard on his wrist, maybe being out of the Big Ten Tournament after Day 2 isn't such a bad thing in the context of Purdue's ability to win NCAA games.
That might be a reach, I don't know, but there's just not a whole lot else to say right now.
Purdue changed its season by winning eight of nine games leading into its regular season finale at IU. Since, it's lost two of three.
When Purdue lost at Iowa, then in the Big Ten Tournament last season, you almost got the sense of a team that had gone as far as it was going to go, one that peaked too soon.
Purdue's in both a great spot and a precarious one right now. It should be ecstatic to be just in the tournament given where it was a few weeks ago, but it's staring at a spot in that dreaded 8/9 game.
Once the Boilermakers win their first-round game like they always do, here comes a No. 1 seed in Round 2, after which you'll be re-reading this same 'So-and-so was just better' blog for at least the third time this season.
This is a limited team, has been all season, and nothing's changing that. But it has been good enough to squeeze 21 wins out of. That's a hell of a 'down' season and a credit to everybody on that roster and coaching staff.
But when limited meets elite, there's generally a problem.
You saw that problem in the final six minutes Friday night in the building the Pacers play in.
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This post was edited on 3/10 3:09 AM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
