Purdue Boilermakers vs North Carolina (Wilmington): A Tale of Two Halves

The Boilermakers played bipolar halves tonight against the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks. Purdue went into the half with a 28-29 lead following a late Terone buzzer beater.

In the second half the Matt Painter halftime talk must have prevailed again.  The defense was sharper, the fouls were less crucial and the Boilermakers were actually running an offense, strange I know. Matty's boys were able to hold UNCW to just 12 second half points to win 66-40.

The first half was a definite struggle.

Purdue started off hot opening up a 15-4 lead early, then the Seahawks started making baskets. It's obvious he is still tweaking his line-ups and trying to find what's best for the team.

Coming out of the half the Boilermakers and the Mackey Arena crowd were greeted with a technical on Jacob Lawson.  Unlike the MSG screwing, this one looked legit, although I haven't seen a replay of it. That was the first time the crowd really got into it inside Mackey, note the students did not have tickets to this one.  Lucky for the three blind mice, they called a similar call on UNCW for swinging his elbows at DJ.  That's when the Boilers started rolling.

Let's start with the positives.

Travis Carroll played like a division one player tonight.  Although he made a lot of defensive mistakes, he had 10 points going 4-4 from the field and four boards, some productive minutes for a guy that hasn't shown much promise.

Terone was wet from three again in this one.  He was 3-3 from range scoring 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.  He was the life of the offense all night.  His driving was productive and you can tell this team is going to look to him to put the points on the board on a consistent basis.

Raphael Davis only played 8 minutes in this one but made the most of it scoring six points and didn't miss from the field or the stripe. I would like to see him get more involved offensively, especially when Anthony Johnson isn't being productive.

A big positive of the night was from the stripe.  So far this season the Boilermakers are shooting 58 percent from the line.  Tonight they shot 83 percent from the charity stripe.  If this can stay continue to improve, we are likely to win some of those close games.

Now a few improvements that need to be made in order to be successful.

First off, Purdue needs to discover who they are.  They need to come up with how they are going to play ball and decide what they are going to be.

Turnovers need to be limited, but this will come in time.

Hammons is just a freshman, so I will cut him some slack.  I really like what I see from him, but I just wish he would realize how tall he actually is.  Sometimes I think he forgets he's a 7'0" monster in the paint.  He only pulled down five boards tonight.  He also needs to work on moving his feet defensively, but this isn't just for Hammons this is for all the big guys.  The big men are definitely the weakness of the team right now, other than Hale and Lawson who have both shown flashes of brilliance this season, Purdue hasn't seen a consistent big man yet. I'm just worried come B1G season our 5 spot is going to get handled on the block.

One thing this team is lacking is a three point shooter.  Sure, DJ Byrd has been known to light it up from beyond the arc, but once again tonight he had a quiet showing and made all but 3 of his 10 points tonight from the charity stripe. This season the Boilermakers are only shooting 25 percent from beyond the arc.  Either they need to quit taking so many threes or start hitting.  4-13 from beyond the arc isn't going to get it done usually.

Overall this team is still growing and developing and I still believe they will make some noise within the conference again this season.  They have all the makings of a high caliber squad, it's just going to take time to mesh and get into a rhythm.  Once this team comes together and discovers who they are, watch out!

The Story Behind The Iconic Hummel Pic

You probably remember this photo from November 2011. After the Boilers narrowly avoided the humiliation of losing on their home court to High Point, Rob Hummel came back out and went back to work on his free throws. You may recall that he missed a couple of crucial FTs late in that game. Never mind that he looked gassed and was just getting his legs back after 20 months away from real games. Rob certainly didn't appear to see that as an excuse and I distinctly remember his reaction after missing the FTs and still winning -- Hummel looked like he wanted to punch himself in the face.

So he shot free throw after free throw, late into the evening. Cliff Brunt, who is working on a fantastic site he calls Indy Sports Legends, writes for the AP and was able to snap that photo. If you click here, you can read his story about that photo, the situation around it, and his thoughts about why it resonated. My favorite part of his analysis is the following:

The photo exemplified everything people already believed about Robbie. Hard work. Determination. Winner. Leadership, indeed.

And that's just it. People need heroes in their lives, even of the sports variety. Sometimes we build someone up because we want them to be the pure, wonderful person we need them to be. Sometimes -- like with Rob -- they even live up to it.

Another Prediction...Another Slap in the Face

The Underdog.

If you watched Purdue's basketball team this past season, you know at times it was tough to watch.  It's been well-publicized that this team was hobbled coming into the season and didn't get healthy until February, and it showed.  Two of the three captains couldn't practice at all for months at a time and two more of the top-5 scorers slogged through injuries that kept them from playing the game they way they did down the stretch.  On top of that, a guy that was as divisive as talented had to be given the boot for the team to have cohesiveness.

These aren't excuses, in fact, they're testaments to Painter's ability...because in spite of all of this...in spite of Purdue having no post presence for much of the season, in a conference that has serious beef under the basket, Purdue still made the tournament and still won 20+ games.

Because of this...because of what we've seen Painter do during his time at Purdue, I'm bewildered by the media's view on his team for the coming season.

Here at BS, we like BTN's Brent Yarina.  He researches his subject matter and generally knows what he's talking about.  But he got his premature conference prediction wrong...and Purdue isn't the only reason why. The moving parts around our Boilers are flawed, yet, by his own admission via Twitter, he believes all seven teams above Purdue in his predicto got better while Purdue didn't.

Let's look a bit at his reasons why he likes everyone in the conference except Purdue, shall we?

2012-13 PROJECTED STANDINGS
1. Indiana – The entire starting 5 is back, plus IU welcomes one of the nation’s top recruiting classes.

I really have no beef with this one.  While I don't respect Crean as a game coach, his ability to get talent to IU has been astoundingly-effective. As Thad Matta will tell you, talent doesn't need much coaching.

2. Michigan – Trey Burke’s return makes Michigan a national contender — leadership is lone issue.

Michigan loses three starters...glue guys, if you will.  Novak started for three years, was a clutch shooter, an intense defender, a coach on the floor, and was all B1G Honorable Mention (and looked like Christian Laettner).  Douglass never missed a game at UM, was a great shooter and Smotrycz started the majority of the games and created tough a tough match-up with his ability to play low and high. Leadership will be an issue as Yarina said...but so will consistency.

3. Ohio State – Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft could become one of the Big Ten’s elite duos.

I agree with Thomas and Craft being a great tandem...but losing a guy who was one of the nation's best for one season and one of the conference's best in his Soph season might change a team a bit.  On top of that, aOSU's offense relied heavily on Sully's ability to clear space and their offense ran through him. Most-interestingly, unlike most of Yarina's favorites, the Buckeyes have an incoming class of ZERO (at this point.

4. Minnesota – Trevor Mbakwe joins a talented and underrated roster that clicked down the stretch.

Mbakwe is a guy who is as talented as any power forward in the nation...reminds me a lot of Kansas' Robinson, but with baggage off the court. So when a guy like that blows out his knee, I think it might be fair to think his explosiveness could be effected; Our pal at BTN doesn't think it matters.  He also thinks that a team that lost 7 of its last 10 B1G contests clicked down the stretch. Oh wait, they did...but when playing teams like LaSalle, MTSU and teams from the awful Pac12.

5. Wisconsin – The Badgers know how to replace star players, and history says they’ll do it again.

I think Wisconsin will actually be better than this.  Losing Taylor is tough, but it's the big honkies that have made Bo his dough...and UW will have plenty whitebreads cut from the Brian Butch mold next season.

6. Michigan State – How will MSU replace Draymond Green and will Branden Dawson be ready to go?

This is another team that I think will be better than Yarina thinks. Harris, Costello and Valentine will be immediate-impact guys...but Harris specifically will only make Nix better as Appling and Payne force themselves onto opposing defenses.

7. Iowa – Aaron White and Devyn Marble headline one of the Big Ten’s most exciting teams.

As we say last year with this team, excitement doesn't translate to wins...but I guess it will translate to more wins than Purdue, ammIright?

I think losing a four-year starter in Gatens is a pretty large deal to this team...but they'll be very dangerous.

8. Purdue – Without a proven big man or facilitator, the incoming recruits arrive with plenty of pressure.

I think his insinuation that Purdue's loss of Jackson will be important.  Sure it will, but the pair of Johnsons both played point last season...and if other teams get credit for their incoming classes, why doesn't Purdue? Three four star-rated players, three guys over 6'9" (one a 21 year old Frosh, another a 7 footer) and a point guard who has played against the most-talented state, in the hotbed of Indianapolis and shined.

I don't mind Purdue not being picked as a conference favorite.  BUT, to put a Matt Painter-coached, defense-first team in the lower third of the conference is worse than a slap in the face, it's foolish. Painter has won as an underdog before, and he'll do it again this season.

Yarina's post wasn't the first disrespectful shot across Painter and his squad's bow in the very-early pre-season...but it was the one from one of the guys that I consider a pretty-knowledgable writer from the network that focuses on the conference.  It warranted a response, not because it's wrong, but because of the source.

Yarina's right- the conference is getting better.  But why stop at eighth? Illinois has a hot name as coach and one of the best players in the league returning, Northwestern has two great players returning and a coach that runs a goofy offense that's tough to defend, and PSU has one of the best players in the conference back with a coach that shows his team's play will match his intensity.  Let's just make Purdue's fall from greatness noteworthy and colossal and place the Boilers at 11th in the league, what do you say? There's no doubt the league is good, but an eighth place prediction nearly says Purdue doesn't belong. 

Clowns like Goodman, Katz and others barely recognize that Purdue has a basketball team now that Hummel is no longer with the program.  But before Hummel was on campus, Painter devised a plan that allowed Purdue, with only two real scoring threats, no real point guard and a ton of lunchpail defense to win 22 games.  Before JJ was JJ, Purdue won 25 games while being led by Freshman and Sophomores...and last year, even with much of the starting line-up held out of practice and without anyone underneath who was formidable, Painter squeezed 22 wins out of a team.  The defense will be back to what we've become accustomed to in '12/'13...and Purdue will surprise Yarina, and others.

In '12-'13, Purdue, Painter and company will relish the underdog role...again.

Handsome Hour Spring Finale, Finally

It's the handsomest interweb radio tandem in all of the universe...back to give you something to tide you over until next fall.

And their pal, all-around good guy, Ryne Smith makes it rain one last time for Boiler fans...but this time, it's not raining threes...it's raining handsomeness.

Tune in...laugh...learn...love...It's Handsome Time.

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Ryne Smith Shares Some End of Season Thoughts

Excited to be here

By Ryne Smith

Special to Boiled Sports

Boilers- 

First of all, I want to send a huge thanks to all the fans for the past four years of my life. Being a Boilermaker is something that I am unbelievably proud of, and I know its cliché but black and gold will run through my veins forever.

I’m glad to join the chumps of Boiled Sports. I was fortunate enough to get to know these guys through Keith Rhoades (BoilermkrHero on Twitter), who is also a chump. But I love ‘em. As for this post, I just wanted to give y’all a follow up of our season, and give some perspective that most people may not get.

The majority of people may already believe this, and you can call me biased but I could care less. Matt Painter belongs in the category of the top tier coaches in college basketball. He is simply the best. I’ve been around the game since I was an infant and he has forgotten more about coaching/basketball than I know. I can say this now that I don’t ever have to participate in one of his practices again, and I’m sure he knows this, but on certain days, I couldn’t stand him. But that was all part of my immaturity. I didn’t see the bigger picture at times. He is a tremendous motivator and looking back on the bad days all can say to myself is, “Ok, I gotcha Coach. You were right.” 

Although there were days where I thought it wouldn’t work out for me, that was never an option. I can say now that I would run through a brick wall for that man if he asked me to, which is true for every guy who was on the roster at the end of the season. After four years deeply involved in the Purdue Basketball program, I can guarantee this: there is not a sniff of illegal activity going on. Purdue just does things the right way. Win or lose. With everything that goes on in major college basketball these days that is seriously something that the Boilers can hang their hat on. Coach has created a system of rules on and off the court that not only creates improvement on the court, but turns boys into men. Coach Paint doesn’t use players for his own good; he helps players use the game of basketball for their own good.   

Spending four years under Painter, and fully buying into his system, regardless of how many points you score, or how many W’s you get, you will exit the program a winner. You will be prepared for the real world, which is ultimately the main goal, correct?

As for the athletic department as a whole, Purdue is first class. Absolutely a first class institution. I get the sense that people criticize Morgan Burke sometimes which is beyond me. [Uhhhh...-J] I didn’t hear anybody criticizing the 100 million dollar renovation to Mackey Arena. I was fortunate enough to get one year in the new palace. I’m jealous of the guys remaining on the team and recruits who get to enjoy that. Also, the work being put on the new baseball stadium, and renovations to the soccer complex is ridiculously nice. I fully believe that when it is all said and done Morgan Burke and his staff will be remembered as the masterminds behind the incredible improvements to Purdue sports. Not to mention the people who hired coaches like Matt Painter, Sharon Versyp, and Dave Shondell, whose résumés speak for themselves. 

Although the improvements to the facilities are remarkable, what’s truly remarkable is where the Athletic Administration has kept the student-athlete GPA. Again, as cliché as it sounds, being a student comes first at Purdue.

This season was a roller coaster ride. Fortunately, even though the end of the Kansas game was the most heartbroken I have ever been, the last portion of the season was the most fun I had ever had with a team. We came together, won some big games, and had a blast doing it. The bond I’ve created with my teammates is something that can’t be explained. 

Lewis and Rob were unbelievable for Purdue’s program. I am so privileged to call them not only my teammates, but my friends. If Robbie Hummel’s story doesn’t inspire you, then you probably just don’t have a soul, let’s just leave it at that. Unfortunately for my future kids, they will have to hear about overcoming adversity like that every time they complain.

I’m trading in my basketball sneakers for a laptop computer to give y’all another perspective with the boys from Boiled. Joining the ranks of non-athletic chumps, but hey, ya #CantKnockTheHustle. Last words of wisdom: Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. 

Then you will be a mile away, and you will have their freakin’ shoes.

Boiler Up, Hail Purdue.

-Ryno

@RyneSmith_

End O' Season Handsome Hour

The Handsome Duo is back...and they're kicking ass and taking names...

And talking about Elizabeth Hurley, of course.

Listen, Love, Learn...Get Handsome!

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The Morning After

It doesn't feel any less lousy this morning. The Boilermakers still lost a game that they led nearly wire-to-wire. They lost a game where they shot a better percentage -- albeit with a serious dropoff in the second half -- than a presumably much better team. They lost a game where, perhaps most frustratingly for me, they didn't force Kansas to make a play, to win it. Kansas simply took Purdue's turnovers and long rebounds and won the game with breakaways. Sure, they count just as much and the Jayhawks won and move on, but it doesn't feel like it was supposed to end like this.

We all knew there was a good chance that this would be the seniors' final game. But after 38 minutes of basketball, it just felt like it couldn't end now. When you lead a game the entire time and -- to their credit -- find ways to edge the lead back up each time the powerhouse Jayhawks cut into it. In fact, the lead did get to double digits in the second half. And in most years, with a Matt Painter coached team, if I said you had a double digit lead anytime in the second half against pretty much anybody, I think you'd take it.

So many odd things happen in the tournament. Rob goes for 22 in the first half but just 4 in the second. However, that can be credited to Kansas, who while they were outcoached by the Purdue staff, clearly is good enough to go into the locker room and say, "Let's guard Hummel and not let him beat us... let's make someone else beat us." It was a smart approach and it worked.

In other games recently, it might have been Terone Johnson who beat them, and Zero showed with 10 points in the second half, but his teardrop was just not splashing like it has of late. In other games, it might have been the little man, Lewis Jackson, who has gone for 18 (vs St. Mary's), 17 (vs IU), 20 (vs Minn) this season, for example. But Lew's patented high-speed, running layup was just refusing to fall, slowly rolling off the rim at least three separate times. Lew shot 2/11 for the game. How often does that happen? (Not often.)

It could have been Ryne, another favorite of BS. But Ryno was only 1/2 from the floor last night, hitting his only real shot and just missing the last-second prayer that, quite frankly, as about as good a look as Purdue could expect in the situation they were in. Who could have expected that Ryne would have just three points in two tourney games? It's unusual and not something you could have predicted.

Purdue had trouble on the glass all year. Yet here, against two of the better big men in the nation, the Boilers were only outrebounded 35-32 -- damn near a wash. And when you look at the starting five's rebounds for the Boilermakers you see this column of numbers: 9-6-3-8-4. Guys were gutting it out and doing everything they could.

Sandi Marcius, for all the abuse he's taken from Purdue fans, played hard and did what he was asked. Sandi had 11 DNPs in the Boilers' final 21 games. Yet when he was asked to be a body, use his fouls and grab rebounds, Sandi didn't sulk, pout or give a lackadaisical effort. He gave an effort to be proud of, because that's what Boilermakers do.

The effort was recognized on the other side, too, as Bill Self clearly had loads of respect for the Boilers. Interestingly to me also was the way Self's players quite obviously respected Purdue's effort and Rob Hummel in particular. Those guys didn't seem like a great group of dudes but in the handshake line, Jayhawk after Jayhawk stopped Rob to do more than give the typical "good game." He scared them and almost beat them single-handedly and those guys wanted to let him know they respected it. 

I saw some raw emotions after the game last night on the instantaneous medium that is Twitter. I stopped looking after a few trolling IU losers did their usual sad-life, antagonism routine, but before I did -- immediately after the game -- I saw some harsh criticisms directed at a couple guys in particular that I'd like to address here.

Lewis Jackson -- For anyone who wants to batter Lew for those final two possesstions, especially the second to last one where he ended it with a turnover, I guess you're entitled. But the isolation play was called for Lew, a senior who has been as much a part of Purdue's successes over the past four years as anyone. Lew, a senior who has repeatedly shown an ability to use his quickness to get a layup even when, as Steve Kerr put it during the broadcast, the other team knows it's coming.

Purdue had been shooting cold in the second half and the Jayhawks defense had, as mentioned, bottled up Rob. So why not keep it in the hands of your senior leader? No, Lewis didn't come through in that particular moment. But do not let that cloud your memories of all the times Lew has come through and all the games Purdue won in large part due to his contribution.

He's one of ours and he sold out and risked his future back health for the old gold and black. Do not forget that.

Matt Painter -- I don't quite understand this, but there are those out there who seem to think Painter isn't a good coach. Maybe it's the drama we saw last year and the resulting bigger contract dollars. Regardless, if you think Matt Painter "cost" Purdue that game, then I don't think you know a whole lot about basketball. Throughout this game, I kept thinking that if Purdue was indeed able to pull this win off, that I'd be writing about this game as Matt Painter's best performance as Purdue head coach. And you know what? I still kind of think it is.

Matt even got the Jayhawks to change their game. Withey, the 7-foot center, played well below his averages in minutes, points and rebounds, largely because Coach Self and company decided to go with a smaller, guard-heavy lineup at times -- something that we as Purdue fans were fine with.

Coach Matty took the parts that he had at his disposal -- parts that did not match up in any way to the bigger, skilled Jayhawks -- and found a way to make it work. He found a way to get this team to rebound with Kansas. He found a way to get contributions from guys who -- as mentioned -- were no-shows or one-minute players for the past couple of months. If that's not good coaching, I don't know what is.

Season Over

Coming into this one, I read, watched and studied the same material that Painter and co. did...to a lesser extent of course.  And I saw a bloodbath as imminent.

5-start talent backed up by four-star talent and superior size at every position.  This team reminds me a lot of aOSU, but a bit of a caricature of them in that they are so physically-strong.  And Purdue's struggle all year has been against physical, talented and large teams.

But Matty and company had a good plan and fired every bullet in the chamber at the 'Hawks...and it almost worked.

J and I talked away from the site about how it would take someone throwing the team on their back to win this one. To no one's surprise, #4 played like he did versus aOSU a few years ago at Mackey and went crazy in the first half...but got bottled up by great defense in the second half.  But, it was more than just Hummel that kept Purdue in the lead for most of this game.

That said, Hummel's 26 points, 9 rebounds and a block were huge.  I'm not sure if Hummel's knee had been sore coming in...but tendonitis wasn't an issue in this one.  Hummel played frenetically away from the ball, and with surgeon-like precision with the ball.  In the one-on-one battle with Kansas AA, Robinson, he won...but I'm sure he would have gladly traded stats for another game in the left hand column.

Here are some things that stood out to us:
-Marcius started...played hard and pulled down 6 big rebounds in 16 minutes. Ryne Smith came off the bench. Carroll and Lawson also played in an effort to match-up with the Jayhawks.
-We've been begging and pleading just for a tiny taste of zone defense for years from Matty.  Tonight we got to see it.  Sure, it kind of looked like they had never played the match-up zone before...but this showed how much gutting and grinding the coaches really did in their preparation for the contest.
-Purdue's scrappy, frustrating defense that we thought we'd see this year returned for this game...and that bodes well for next season.
-Byrd finished with 10/3. TJohn had 10/8...and LewJack had 5 pts, 5 ast, 4 reb.

All of this and a Purdue team that was selling out time and again led to a one-point lead, 59 seconds on the clock...and Purdue ball.  Purdue 60 Kansas 59. I knew it would take perfect execution or tremendous luck for Purdue to win...Purdue got neither.

After a timeout, Painter ran an isolation play for LewJack, but Kansas' defense made it two defenders v. LewJack.  After the ball was knocked away, Kansas finished on the other end quickly and had a one-point lead. Purdue 60 Kansas 61. But Purdue would have another shot.

Purdue used another timeout and had :24 seconds to make something happen.This time, the offense made much more sense...and Hummel got a good look from the right side...but it didn't fall. After a defensive rebound, Kansas got another runout and finished again...Purdue 60 Kansas 63.

Purdue used the final 2.4 seconds to get the ball in Smith's hands who took a runner from about 29 feet.  It banked off of the glass, hit the front of the rim and fell to the ground.  Final: Purdue 60 Kansas 63.

Season over...and the same goes for Hummel, Smith and LewJack's careers in gold and black...and that's what stings.  For some reason, bidding these guys farewell is really hard for J and I...but we've loved watching them for the last 4/5 seasons.

Purdue's players looked crushed as they walked through the line with Kansas after the game.  I don't think there's any doubt that they thought they should have or could have won...but it didn't happen.

Painter wanted a team in the middle of the season that would fight hard; at that time, he didn't have it.  But, by mid-March, he had found one that fought hard and consistently.  Perhaps if the team we saw play tonight had existed back in December, they wouldn't have had to play Kansas in the second round...but, this group was playing their best basketball this evening...and if nothing else, they went down swinging.



"Ever Grateful. Ever True."

A Look Ahead to Jayhawks

Georgetown just got done doing what Georgetown do: Bowing out of the tournament early.  The end result is NC State is heading to St. Louis to play the winner of Purdue v. Kansas.

Now let me tell you what I think about this evening's match-up (Look away if you have a weak stomach):

This game is about match-ups...and here's what we know.  Purdue's two victories versus ranked opponents came against UM and St. Mary's.  Both teams used guard play as the strength that led them to a ton of wins.  Our Boilers have few problems when playing guard-happy teams.  They have good defensive and offensive players in the backcourt who can play against anybody...in the frontcourt, the story changes.

Here are some teams that controlled Purdue from wire to wire in one or more contests this season: Alabama, MSU, aOSU and IU.  What do they all have in common? Good big men...athletic, long, strong players who Purdue simply has no answer.

So here comes Kansas.

They have not one, but two skilled big guys in their starting line-up.  One is a player of the year candidate, the other gobbles up space and averages nearly 10 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks. So who guards Robinson and Withey?  I have no idea.

My guess is that we'll see Hummel, Byrd, Carroll, Marcius and Lawson all try to juggle Kansas' large pair.  And I also think this group effort will yield a pretty big struggle as none of them are great match-ups for Robins and Withey.  Byrd's not big enough, Hummel's not quick enough, Carroll's not strong-enough, Marcius isn't skilled enough and Lawson has a hard time finding position in the post.  If we could combine all of them, we might have a pair of formidable post players; sadly I don't think we have the technology to do that just yet.

So, methinks it'll take some hot shooting- something we haven't seen in a few games, to just keep it close. Byrd, Smith and Hummel are all due for a good game offensively...especially Smith and Hummel.  But there are no guarantees...One thing that Purdue can control though is being smart on offense.  They can make the extra pass (I'm talking to you, Robbie), not take hasty threes out of the flow of the offense (I'm talking to you, DJ) and let the game come to you (I'm talking to you, Ryne).

It can happen...Purdue can go to the sweet 16; we've seen the underdog come through time and again during this tournament.  But there's a reason those games are exciting- they're rare and unexpected, even at this time of year.

Kansas is a a team that hauls in 4 and 5-star athletes with regularity and sends them off to the league just as quickly.  On this year's Jayhawk starting line-up, there are probably three future NBA players.  They've been ranked between 3 and 7 for the last 12 weeks or so.  The RPI likes them as much as humans- they landed at 6 at the end of the season.  And while rankings don't really matter, their #2 seeding puts them in exactly the place they should be this Spring; among the elite of the nation.

Our Boilers on the other hand struggled for much of the season to figure out who they were and how to play together.  This 4 month game of grab ass reaped a 10 seed.  Sure, our Boilers played their best ball in the last month, there's no question about that, but no one called Purdue elite in '11-'12.  All this means is that Purdue has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Purdue's Captains might be holding all the cards

Some (myself included) might argue that Purdue is already playing with the house's money...and is already ahead.  Winning one game in the tourney (let alone two) is really a gift...and as a fan, I'm pretty pleased with my alma mater's basketball team already.  I'm positive that Matty isn't as pleased as I am...and his three Seniors are probably more motivated than they've been in the last four years to defy the odds; something they've already done a few times.

That said, Ryne, LewJack, Robbie and co. are sitting in the perfect place to sneak up on some people- hopefully they do just that to Kansas.  Tip-off is in just under 5 hours, at 8:40.

Day 2: Dancing According to Form

Don't get me wrong- I wouldn't trade Day 1 of the tourney for my bestest day of work...and I like my job.  But, Day 2 is why I love this time of year like a third child that my wife and I don't have- It's not just upsets, it's back-and-fourth basketball, and guys selling out as if they know they might never play anything but church league ball again...and Duke losing.  That was the cherry atop a ginormous sundae of college basketball placed in front of me on Friday.

Happy Fun Time

-I had Missouri in my Final Four- good pick, right?  But, no part of me was rooting for the tigers as Norfolk State calmly controlled that game as if they'd been there. Sure, three or four of the green-clad NSU players had names that sounded like they came from Dublin, and there's no doubt a little luck of the Irish didn't hurt them so close to St. Pat's Day.  But their players were amazingly sportsmanlike, it seemed- I saw those guys helping up Mizzou players after contact time and again.  Tough not to like an underdog; let alone one that is amazingly-classy.

A ton of Purdue fans this year thought aloud about how Painter must feel about Mizzou's success.  Painter answered that question on Thursday by saying he was happy to see those coaches and players doing well as he knew them and thought of Mizzou's AD as a good guy.  Who knows if Matty would have led the Tigers to 30 wins this season...but I bet he wouldn't have let that group bow out in the first round.  No matter- a Big12 Championship is a pretty good season- I just wish I hadn't bought into the Tigers on my bracket...must be the colors that blind me- I also have Vandy in the Final Four.

-I sarcastically picked Lehigh to beat Duke during the HH this week...and of course I was right.  I don't have much to say about this game other than this wasn't a typical Duke team, and it showed on Friday.  The Plumlees are goons (normal Duke type goons), and they have guys that can shoot and D up anyone...but Rivers seemed to play his own game pretty often...so they just weren't that great of a cohesive team.  By the way, they never were all season...and the ACC (as a whole) stunk this year, so they fit in nicely.

-There's a new CDW commercial with a guy on it that looks like Hammer and Rail's founder, TMill's fat, dorky red-headed brother.

And speaking of commercials, any commercial with a talking baby or a monkey will get my attention...the rest of them are white noise and reason to turn the station or get a refill- make a note of it, ad execs.

-My Belmont as a darkhorse pick was as bad as Mizzou to the FF...and in a related note, the Big East kind of redeemed itself after a crappy first day. G'Town was dominant, Cincy punched a crappy Texas team in the mouth time and again, and South Florida scored more than 25 points in a half to beat Temple in a rock fight.

UND played in the least-likable game of the tournament thus far...and lost.  But really, we all lost for having to pick a side. Scott Martin's heroic 11 points couldn't stop Tu Holloway from zipping up the Irish's season.

-UM pooped on the B1G's perfect first round by doing what Beilein teams do- raise expectations only pulverize them via underwhelming, disappearing play. The florescent yellow and blue were in the top-15 for most of the year.  And their Friday foe was a flippin' MAC squad who hovered in the 50s for most of the year and played a schedule that was funny like a clown.  Yet, they didn't have many problems with UM.  Christian Laettner Novak and Douglass went out with a whimper combining for 7 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

Next year, a new era of disappointment begins next season as Beilein welcomes 5-star recruit PF/C, McGary, Big Dog's son and some other guy.

-I was silly yet again this year as I looked at the bracket.  I thought, "Self, that Mountain West Conference is pretty-darned good...give them a few wins." So I did just that.  Stupid brain.

At the end of the second real day of the tourney and the first real round, SDSU, UNLV and Colorado State had all gone the way of the Doc Sadler era.  The only remaining Mountain Weak West member is pretty Steve Alford's New Mexico squad. I have them beating Louisville...so they'll be out soon as well.

-Day three of the best sports weekend of the year is already underway as "Bitchy" Jim Boeheim's team is already playing K. State.  Sadly, this one's going according to seed.

-Tomorrow night, Sunday, the Forces of Good will play the large and talented Jayhawks from KU at 8:40. Tune in and enjoy.  Hopefully the team sees this game for what it is- a great chance to gain much and lose little.

BS Research shows winning is better than losing.

Until then, savor the fact that this team just won and did it without barely a whisper from Hummel and a silent game from Smith.  Methinks they both are due.

Boilers Use Johnson Penetration To Overpower Gaels, 72-69

The Boilers did a nice job of recreating their season in handy, capsule form tonight. Starting out well, the Boilers methodically built themselves a lead as the Gaels of St. Mary's refused to believe they should try something other than three-pointers.

Eventually, Purdue fans began to feel a bit comfortable as the game was taking on a look of some of those Purdue games down the stretch, where an opponent would begin to creep back in but then the Boilers would stretch it back out again. And they did do that throughout the second half, until about three minutes remained and the good guys were up 66-55. Then the Gaels churned out a 14-2 run to take their first lead of the game with less than a minute remaining, 69-68. It was happening again.

I think it's safe to say nearly all of us thought about Xavier and Butler and the fact that just minutes earlier, we were smiling inside thinking about Rob, Lew and Ryne advancing in their final NCAA tourney. Now it was suddenly, cruelly, about to be ripped away from them. But at least Terone Johnson had the ball... Terone was a man again tonight, pouring in 21 points and dishing five assists (if this was IU, Jeff Rabjohns would be hyperventilating -- but it's not IU and Terone isn't white, like Jordan Hulls). But then Terone turned the ball over. St. Mary's had the ball and the lead and just over a half minute to go -- it was over for Purdue and that sinking feeling was upon us.

If you're anything like me, it almost wasn't hitting you full force yet -- mainly because the blowing of this lead happened so damn fast. Literally in a span of a few minutes, the Boilers went from up double-digits to losing. Alas it was the only three minutes the Gaels would be able to put together, as they then traveled on the baseline attempting to inbounds it and it came back to the Boilers. And, again if you're like me, you suddenly felt a lot of hope. I didn't think Terone would make another mistake and I knew Purdue had seniors on the floor who weren't ready to go home.

Sure enough, Lewis Jackson took the ball towards the basket and was fouled. He then made two to complete is excellent 18 point night, including 6/8 from the line. Strangely, Lew was credited with zero assists -- the only time this season that has happened and only the third time in all of Lewis Jackson's college games ever. Very strange, but assist crediting can be very subjective.

Anyhow, Lewis made both his free throws to give the Boilers the lead, which the Gaels responded to -- down one, remember -- with a long range three that missed everything terribly and went out of bounds. In fact, it may have injured a cheerleader it was so off-target. As I said, the Gaels were stubborn about that. (Their coach said at halftime that he figured they wouldn't shoot as poorly in the second half as their 1-15 three-point shooting performance in the first. Well, he was right: they went 3-10 in the second.) The Boilers inbounded to Mr. Rob Hummel, who was promptly fouled and I -- like many others, I am sure -- absolutely loved that it was Rob who was striding to the line to take the critical free throws. He nailed them both, as the Boilers shot 83% from the line for the night. Rob was quiet with only ten points overall, but he had those two very clutch free throws as well as a long range bomb of a three in the first half that would have made Boilerdowd proud back in his co-rec days.

The Boilermakers bench was as short as you might expect tonight, with only eight guys getting minutes, with one of those being Travis Carroll, who played just four. Sandi Marcius logged 16 minutes and must have thought Coach Painter forgot he was out there, as Sandi hasn't played that many minutes since November 23, in an 80-37 blowout of Western Michigan. That game versus WMU was also the last time Sandi exceeded his five points tonight. Finally, Sandi went 3/3 from the line, his best performance there to date. That's a good sign of what Sandi should be capable of. Maybe all those who have written off the sophomore as "useless" already were premature. We shall see.

Anthony Johnson also used his penetrating abilities to further excite Steve Kerr, who couldn't stop talking about "Purdue's Johnsons penetrating." It was almost like Steve had a bet with someone or knew a drinking game was being played. Anyhow, AJ had another solid game, with ten points in 20 minutes and made both his free throws.

The Boilers shot 46% overall and 31% from three. Not great, but not atrocious. They were outrebounded by 11, 36-25, which is going to be a serious problem against anyone with size in the second round. Like Kansas, if they're able to advance.

This was a good start to the tourney for Purdue, as on the day several very high seeds went down, the Boilers kept the nation's best first-round first-game winning streak alive at 14 straight now.

Does the train make a stop in St. Louis? We find out Sunday. Until then, enjoy.

Day 1: Winners and Losers

I love the NCAA tournament more than any sports events...even during days like yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I don't have to have explosions and car chases in everything I watch...but the first day didn't have one game-winning last shot.  There were a couple close games, but very few back-and-forth contests.

One of the only contests that went unexpectedly was UNC Asheville holding the lead for most of the game...and in spite of sleep walking through about 3/4 of the game 'Cuse had the lead in the closing minutes.  But, instead of letting the game run its course, two horrible officials took any chance of winning away from UNCA...it was a sham.  But, so was the play of most of the BE teams.

Jobbed.

'Cuse looked like they'd be the first 1 to lose to a 16, UConn did what UConn do; simply didn't try for the entire first half of the game before waking up and making it a contest...just to lose by 13 to The Mayor's Cyclones.  Louisville struggled to put away an OK Davidson squad.  WVU was lambasted by Gonzaga...and didn't put up a fight.  The lone bright spot for the over-rated, bloated, soon-to-be unimportant conference was Marquette who crushed BYU.

Now, if the B1G had a day like the BE, we'd hear about that non-stop from sports pundits...instead, barely a word about this Mega Conference's garbage day.  It doesn't matter, but inconsistency in the media is tough for me to swallow.

IU played a solid game and kept NMSU at an arms length, or more, for the entire contest.  It was a good win; especially in the wake of what many saw as a potential upset (I didn't see it that way, by the way).  But, IU shill writer, Jeff Rabjohns said the importance of IU beating the 59th-best team in the land on a neutral court couldn't be overstated.  Once again, inconsistency rears its ugly head.  IU fans remind us they're back when they beat aOSU and MSU and talk about IU's heritage as an elite program.  But being "back" would hint at the idea IU might not see it as a big deal to beat a 13 seed 1000 miles away from their home.  But that's not the case, I guess.

aOSU made pretty light and quick work of Loyola (MD)...the only time the game was kinda in doubt was when Matta pre-maturely pulled all starters to see a large lead shrink to 11 points.  When Craft, Biggie and the others were re-inserted, they easily pushed the lead back to 20+ and put away their foe.

The Birdman's squad whipped Montana in impressive fashion during a late-lunchtime tilt.  Montana's beards couldn't combat Wisconsin's shooting...Bucky moves on to the second third round.

The Forces of Good along with UM and MSU all play today.  Purdue will tip-off around 7:30.  LewJack sounds like his wrist is doing pretty well and is not hampered during practice by it...and I've heard nothing negative about Hummel's knee; so they're all-go.  TJohn will have the un-enviable task of guarding the WCC POY, Dellavedova, who makes the team go in every part of their game.

No news is good news when it comes to pre-game/practice updates for our Boilers in the hours leading up to tonight's game...but there was one interesting tidbit from GBI's Neubert- He reported that our pal, Ryne Smith threw down a two-handed dunk yesterday in open practice...The guy is 6'3"...so it's not shocking, but it is kind of a surprise since he's never done in in a game in his four years in God's country.

My Commodores survived and advanced...and Baylor nearly ruined my South region by messing around while playing South Dakota State. I don't have a ton of upsets in my bracket for today, but I'd like to see the 10 beat the 7 and the 14 beat the 3 in the Midwest...I also think Florida could drop one v. UVA since that's what Florida likes to do in the tourney.

The first game tips off in a little over two hours.

Pre-Dancing Handsomeness!!!

The Handsome Duo invites much of the Purdue Blogosphere for a cookout...

The fellas don't agree on everything, but they all think Vandy will be the next NCAA champ.

But will it be this guy:

or this guy that leads the Commodores to the promised land?

Tune in and find out...NOW!!

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Should You Be Confident Or SCURRED?

Solid guard play

It's tourney week and your Boilers are in their sixth consecutive NCAA tournament after their sixth consecutive 20-win season. They've also won 13 first round games in a row, with their last first round loss coming in 1993 to Rhode Island. They're playing St. Mary's in the first round.

This year's iteration of the Boilers, as a 10-seed, are one of those situations where I can honestly give you both a scenario to make you optimistic as well as a scenario that should make you go into a cold sweat. So what to do first?

Why You Should Be Excited

The Boilers are a ten-seed, sure. But I look at the 7, 8, 9 and 10 seeds as teams that the committee wasn't quite sure what to do with. There's almost always a serious sleeper in those seeds each year that feels slighted by the perceived underseeding. They're often a bunch of similarly matched teams so hey, let's have 'em play each other. I think the 8/9 and 7/10 games are as close to the play-in games (err, I'm sorry...First Round games) as you can get in the tourney. Or, further into the tourney. Shut up, NCAA, none of us really believe the Tues-Weds games are "first round games."

So I think the 7/10 game is similar to the 8/9 game with one big difference -- you won't have to face a 1-seed until the regional finals (Elite 8). This is huge, for a number of reasons. For one, the 1-seed could get bounced by then. The down side of course is that they may also be in their groove by then but hey, if your team advances all the way to the end of the second weekend, you've got to expect some tough games ahead. The 8/9 winner has to play the 1 right away, which is only good in the sense that maybe you catch them tired or looking past you, etc., and if you do beat them as the 8/9, you now have the 1's path to the Final Four. Not insignificant.

But back to being the 10. If you do advance, you play the 2 next. Twos are sometimes suspect, but the 2 Purdue would face is Kansas. The only things I would say that are in Purdue's favor here are that A) Bill Self's Kansas teams either go to the Final Four or poop themselves early in the tourney and B) Kansas has been challenged seriously by Mizzou this year. Mizzou is a senior-laden team that can get hot shooting. Sound familiar?

And after that, well, if the Boilers were to advance out of the first weekend, this suddenly becomes the best chance to advance to a Final Four since the 2000 team had to only beat an 8-seed in the regional finals to get there. You'd be looking at potentially playing teams like SDSU, Georgetown, Michigan, Temple, UNC, etc. Do any of those truly frighten you? And again, keep in mind that your boys are only taking on UNC if it's a Final Four trip on the line -- I'd take that deal right now, wouldn't you?

And what if...what if a 15 beat a 2 and Detroit moved on?

Why You Should Be Scurrred

Well, we're Purdue fans, right? We know what can happen when we're expecting/hoping for good things. Also, they are a double digit seed, which is never advantageous. You're going to need to topple higher seeds the whole time, unless some serious upsets occur.

There's also the ever-present possibility that the cold-shooting, non-hustling, zero-rebounding iteration of Purdue will show up. I am confident this isn't going to happen in light of the way this team seemed to really begin to figure things out late in the season, but you never know. Parts of this version of the Boilermakers were visible for a while in Bloomington and it was too much to overcome.

---------------------------------------------------

Frontcourt?

So do the Boilers advance? I think it's fair to expect this experienced Boilermakers team from the best conference in the land to defeat the winner of the 11th-best conference in the land. St. Mary's seems cocky (especially for a bunch of basketball-playing nuns) and that is good, in my opinion.

Boilerdowd and I were at St. Mary's most recent tournament game, in which they were slapped around by Baylor in Houston in 2010. That's the kind of dedication we have to scouting for you. What can we tell you from that? Not much.

This Gaels team is good, to be sure. Only five losses on the season tell you that, but they did lose to Denver and Loyola Marymount, while also being handled well by Baylor, Gonzaga and Murray State.

But those three are all tourney teams, you might hear a Gael fan tell you (if you can find one). And to that I say this....so is Purdue.

Choo-choo, muthas.

BS Bracketalysis Time!!!

So, you think you're smarter than J or boilerdowd? That's unpossible.

But, you can try to prove that you're better at guessing the outcome of athletic contests than the Handsome Duo.  Good luck, you're gonna need it.

Plus, there's a chance you'll win a bazillion dollars* or a chance to rub J's achy body parts!!!!  Other prizes might include a possible chance to write a guest column on this very site, a beautiful pendant keychain, Indianapolis Firebirds box seats and an opportunity to fight boilerdowd in a prison-style brawl**.

Click Here...it'll make you fell good...everyone else is doing it...Matty wants you to do it.




*Give or take one bazillion dollars
**boilerdowd might or might not actually be a real person who fights somewhat like a four year old girl

Boilers Get the 10 Seed in Omaha

While J and I don't see eye-to-eye on this, I didn't like Purdue's odds to make it to the dance about a month and one-half ago...so, for me at least, this seeding is like playing with the house money for Matty's boys.

I know, I know, a lot of people had Purdue as an 8 or 9 seed...but as CBS announced the final region, and Purdue had not gotten its marching orders just yet, the idea of having to play UNC in North Carolina in the second round might have been the very-worst scenario for this Purdue team.

So, here's what we know:
-Purdue will be playing St. Mary's in Omaha on Friday.
-This will be the second time Purdue has played a Gaels team this season (Iona was the first)
-St. Mary's won the WCC, but the RPI has them as the second-best team in the conference...Gonzaga was slightly better.  The Gael players had Champion belts printed on the t-shirts they were wearing when they received their seeding on national TV.
-The WCC is the 11th-best conference in the land
-Of St. Mary's five losses, only one was versus a bad team- Denver.  The rest of their losses came versus teams in the top-25 of the RPI
-St. Mary's has a handful of Australians on their squad and a Lithuanian.  Their leading scorer is an Aussi- Dellavedova bombs threes (making 36% of them on the year) and averaged nearly 16 pts/gm and a whopping 6.3 ast/gm
-Their second-leading scorer is Rob Jones who averages nearly 15/gm.  He'll probably have Hummel and Byrd on him for most of the game on Friday

What's to like:
-Purdue has matched up with teams without a dominant big man pretty well all season.
-Our Boilers will be the underdog...versus a media darling mid-major.  Hopefully smart guys in the national media talk down Purdue all week- that's helped Matty motivate his squads in the past few years.
-Purdue has been very successful in early rounds of the tournament under Painter
-Not playing in Albuquerque or Portland
-SMC's champ belts make me think that they're cocky.  Good.
-Not having to play UNC, Syracuse or Kentucky in round 2

Aussi Aussi Aussi

What's not to like
-Playing a team that scores a lot of points and shoots the ball very well
-Having to hear about your Boilers as an underdog for the next four days...or worse, no one even talking about them- get ready for the latter.
-Playing in Omaha...with a potential second round game versus Kansas in their backyard
-It's an 8-9 hour drive for most Purdue fans to Omaha
-Teams like UConn, who played like dog crap for much of the year (like Purdue) were rewarded with higher seeds than Purdue
-LewJack tweaking his wrist and rumors of Hummel having a sore knee late in the game v. aOSU

Tip-off times will be released later tonight.

Boilers Knocked Out of B1G Tourney: 71-88

It's tough to play an NBA-ready team when you don't get paid to play...Purdue demonstrated that tonight, as aOSU showed how much better they are than Purdue. The end result was an easy 20 point win.  Purdue fought, clawed and scratched for about 30 minutes...and would make runs at the Buckeyes, but couldn't get over the hump.  Then, the floodgates opened and Purdue couldn't do much to stop it.

I watched this game on mute as I can't stand to hear Gus Johnson kiss Jared Sullinger's ass for two hours...on top of that, I get angrier and angrier as I watch Purdue players getting elbowed high, cleared out and held just to have the whistle blown on the guys in black and gold.  Turns out, Matty feels the same way I do...and tonight, he earned a rare technical foul after watching Smith get dragged down by Sullinger followed by 0 putting his hands in Smith's face.  Good for Coach Painter...but probably bad for the team at the end of the day.

Back when Keady would get a tech, it seemed to light a fire beneath the team...this team isn't used to this type of demonstrative behavior...so it seemed to kind of freak them out.  But I'll repeat, I'm happy to see Painter showing that type of emotion...and dammit I can't stand the way officials protect Sullinger.  And speaking of techs, one of aOSU's 4 6'9" PFs got called for a foul...bumped into an official, yelled at the official and received nothing for his poor behavior.  Oh well. None of this would have changed the outcome of the game...but all of it pisses me off.  I've said it before, I don't root for Matta's squad in the tournament...in fact, I don't root for aOSU very often...it'll be no different this year when they receive their two seed.  Here's to watching them bow out prematurely again.  Since the rules won't let them lose in Columbus, perhaps they can get knocked out in Pittsburgh in the round of 32 by somebody like Drexel...one can dream.

But back to tonight's shellacking.  There were some good things- Byrd shot well again- had 20 points...and did an OK job at times defending Sullinger and his forcefield. TJohn played well yet again, scoring 15 and played very good, high energy defense.  LewJack was fearless as usual, driving into the tall trees...playing through pain and scoring 10 points...but more importantly dishing out 10 assists.  Hummel struggled offensively with aOSU's length, couldn't get into much of a flow and finished with 6 points, but a team high 10 rebounds. Smith had a couple big threes that looked like they might be important...but didn't matter as aOSU squashed Purdue.

Purdue was out-rebounded by 12...the Buckeyes blocked 6 Purdue shots and simply man-handled Purdue.  I didn't think Purdue would win as I knew aOSU would give Purdue their best effort; something they don't do each game. But for the first half, Purdue staved off the inevitable beat down by doing the little things...in the last ten minutes of the game, none of it seemed to matter as the high percentage shots were unstoppable and Purdue seemed physically and mentally beaten.

Honestly, I don't know if I care too much about the loss...other than the fact that I wasted two hours watching Sullinger's entitled whining at the officials.  Purdue was an 8 or 9 seed coming in...Wishful thinking said they could play themselves into a 6 with a win.  But as Purdue fans, we should all know better- the committee cares little about Purdue's B1G tourney successes or failure for that matter...I'm just hoping that LewJack's wrist isn't hurt too badly that it'll hamper him at all on Thursday or Friday.

Now, we await what the committee has to say...I do hear Portland and Albuquerque are beautiful this time of year; we'll see if Matty and co. get to take a familiar trip out West in the next week...regardless, I'm glad this team will be in the dance at all-  I wasn't so sure about their chances just weeks ago.  I hope these Seniors fight like they always have and make some noise where ever they land; that's all I can ask.

Also, I hope all four teams remaining in the B1G tournament lose next round...and since that's not possible, I guess I'll be pulling for Michigan...kinda.

The selection show is at 6:00 on Sunday afternoon- Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony and some no-talent asshat will be hosting the festivities.  Make sure to participate in the BS Bracket Challenge starting shortly after the pairings are set.

Boilers Methodically Mow Down Huskers, 79-61

Purdue defeated Nebraska tonight in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, nearly without appearing to break a sweat. The Cornhuskers would get close -- and by "close" I mean within a half-dozen or so -- and Purdue would pull away again. This game was reminiscent of recent seasons where I used to often comment that the Boilers ground teams into a fine powder. It also reminded me of Purdue's late-season cohesion as a unit. Not even Nebraska's Hickory High-era uniforms could make a difference.

The ball moved fairly well around the perimeter, though I will say the Boilers will need to be more crisp against Ohio State to have a shot tomorrow night. The shooting -- particularly in the first half -- was very sharp. For the game, the good guys shot 56%, including 52% from beyond the arc. Sizzlin'!

Five guys in black and gold got into double figures; distribution like that is always great to see, even if it is against a team in their first year of Division 1 basketball.

(Oh, what's that? Nebraska has been Division 1 for a long time? Oh, my bad.)

Anyway, Rob had ten points on 3/7 shooting, Ryne pumped in 15 on 5/8 (all from three-land) and DJ had ten on 3/7 shooting (and only 1/4 from the line). But those guys are expected to do that...at least. What I loved seeing was the continued emergence of the Johnson boys.

AJ was doin' work off the bench tonight. In 26 minutes, he had 17 points on 7/10 shooting. It was a season high in points for #1 and was only his second double-figure scoring game since the end of the non-con schedule. And let's not forget -- he's listed as a freshman thanks to his redshirt year. So....more to come.

Is it me, or has AJ begun to emerge without the shadow of Barlow around? I'm not suggesting he was stunted by Barlow's presence -- just that without Kelsey here, AJ has been able to spread his proverbial wings.

Anthony also hit a three, hit half his free throws, dished out four assists and grabbed six rebounds. That is doing work, my friends.

The other Johnson -- Terone -- continued his rise, starting the game and playing the most minutes, while going 6/11 from the field, 2/4 from trey, scoring 16 big points, snatching six rebounds and doling out six assists. 16, 6 and 6....is there any doubt some triple doubles are in Zero's future?

I also got this feeling that LewJack is gently passing the baton. No, he's not done yet, but games like these are a good opportunity to let the young bucks shine and drop the dimes. Lew had a quiet five points and three assists but that's fine. As B-dowd said on the Handsome Hour, we almost would have been fine with them not even dressing Rob and Lew. But we're selfish and love seeing them play, so we're glad they did.

As I said at the top, the best thing about this game was that the Boilers made quick work of the Huskers. The game was honestly never in doubt, and the cornholios never got in a groove where they could have thought they had a legitimate chance. That's the way we like it and it's the way good teams handle bad teams.

Make no mistake, Purdue is a good team right now. Tomorrow night, they'll face the rested and ready Buckeyes in a rematch of one of the best Big Ten games of the season. At least they're in Purdue's state this time, and let's hope that the Big Ten Tourney doesn't mean much to those guys. That kind of a slight edge might be all the Boilers need to kick the door down.

Tune in tomorrow night to find out. The Boilers will again be the nightcap, likely around 9 PM, this time on BTN. Word is live humans will be on hand to discuss the moving pictures we'll be watching. I mean, you know, assuming the BTN production truck doesn't explode or something.

"Bang bang! Your Big Ten career is dead, Doc!"

Handsome Madness!!!

It's conference tourney time...and the duo is stoked.  They talk about the bestest time of the sports year, and even talk a bit about Coach Hope's boys.

Also, tune in to hear them talk about what you need to know to win $1,000,000...among other things.

It's Handsome Time.

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