By the Numbers: Northwestern Analysis, Iowa Forecast

You may have noticed the basketball-like substance on the floor of Mackey Arena Sunday. You may also have noticed that it came from the Good Guys and not the valiant opposition ... in no small part because a) Painter seems to be caring less about results and more about lessons, which strangely leads to better results sometimes, and b) Northwestern apparently angered the basketball gods by nearly making the tournament last year, so every contributing senior has been struck down in response; only Reggie Hearn has recovered.

kenpom had this as a Purdue win going into the game, and it played out basically as a more extreme version of what the numbers would have suggested.

That's not supposed to be
close to even, Wildcats.

• Rebounding. Northwestern is actually above-average in height – their effective height is +2.5, 37th in the country – but that's related more to defense than anything else. Since Jared Swopshire went down for the season against Iowa, they've been left with short players and young players: the tallest, 7'0" Alex Olah, posts just a 6.3 OR% and 15.0 DR%. For context, in slightly fewer minutes, 6'5" Rapheal Davis has 6.8% and 15.1% respectively. (Translation: tall Wildcat needs practice.)
  Accordingly, Purdue destroyed Northwestern on the boards, 48-23*, with a whopping 48.3 OR% (see graphic; 5 of those 14 were team boards, which I suspect means some Wildcat knocked them out of bounds or fouled). Davis had 1 OR and 6 DR for Purdue; Olah had 2 OR and 0 DR. Purdue also posted an 81.0 DR%. (Translation: Purdue with the rebound.)
• Defense. Height correlates with defense in several areas, but it doesn't cause better defense, and Northwestern has shown that in Big Ten play, dropping to dead last in defensive efficiency (111.0). Yes, this comes from things like losing by 15 to Nebraska and by 28(!!) to Wisconsin, both slow-tempo teams like the 'Cats.
  In Evanston, Purdue was "held" to just 1 point per possession; this time they posted 1.16 PPP, and yes, they scored a bit over 16% more points than in the first meeting. Purdue shot .556 from two and .467 from three. (In related news, Ronnie Johnson did not attempt a three.) This is not good if you are on defense. If Purdue had hit their free throws (A.J.?), it probably would have been a 40-point game.
• Offense. Yes, the Wildcats forced 15 turnovers for a 23.4 TO%, well over Purdue's conference average of 19.0%, but they simply couldn't convert them ... shooting .316(!!!) from two will do that to you. Add in .222 from three and a Boiler-like .583 from the line, and you get a blowout loss: fewer possessions (thanks to the 19.0 OR%) and few conversions. Hearn: 3-10, 0-1 from three, 8 points in 30 minutes.

Fortunately for Northwestern, Penn State fills the gap between impending blowouts at the hands of Ohio State (home) and Michigan State (away). Like Purdue, Northwestern must steal one of those games to have a fighting chance at .500; unlike Purdue, they now seem completely incapable of doing so.

The win stopped a three-game slide that dropped Purdue down to 97th; right now they're 78th, where they were right before the first Northwestern game. The Iowa game still looks like you'd expect if a tournament-bound** team were hosting a sub-.500 team: 80-20 for Iowa. Things to watch for if Purdue's going to pull this one off:

More shots for the guy
on the far right, plz.

• Iowa's transition game. The Hawkeyes are 8th in offensive efficiency in Big Ten play (100.4), 10th in eFG (44.2%), and 11th in 3P% (28.6). Get back on defense, make them run what half-court options they have, especially if they go to Josh Oglesby (32-121 from three, .264; his eFG is 38.5%, which is stat-speak for "bad"). Purdue's two-point defense (44.3%) is third in the conference; there shouldn't be many good options when the defense gets back.
• Fouls. Iowa leads the conference at .732 from the line. They shot .867 against Nebraska ... but only had 15 attempts on 13 Cornhusker fouls. Purdue allowed 27 FTA in the overtime win in Mackey; best not to repeat that performance if possible.
  Inside fouls were a problem in the first meeting: AJ fouled out in 30 minutes and Travis Carroll had 3 fouls in 7 minutes. Aside from maybe Adam Woodbury (20-38, .526), no Hawkeye is really a liability at the line. Don't commit cheap fouls.
• Shot selection. Purdue shot just .423 from two in Mackey; Iowa's in-conference defensive efficiency is much better than Northwestern's, and in the road games against teams on either side of Iowa, Purdue shot .426 against Michigan State and .438 against Michigan. It'll be as important as ever that players move without the ball on offense: poor shots generally don't lead to points in this situation.

kenpom predicts a 71-62 win for Iowa; a Purdue win would be more of a confidence booster than anything else (an NIT bid probably requires another regular-season win plus a first-round BTT win) and pretty much forces Iowa to win the BTT to make the NCAA field.

* EsPN's numbers do not include team rebounds, which is silly because they do count.
** Yes, Iowa's not currently even on the bubble. Yes, losing to Nebraska is bad. However, 8 of their 10 losses are to solid teams (Wichita State's righted themselves and look to be in good shape; VT is Iowa's other bad loss), and a first-round BTT win would likely give Iowa 20. 8-10 in this conference should be enough to get them in.

Some More Observations From The Win over Northwestern



Pew pew! Matty knows the finger guns are always funny.

 There was no doubt a lot to like in Sunday's thumping of Northwestern at Mackey. The Boilers showed they weren't dead yet, despite recent evidence to the contrary. Terone showed major life in having perhaps his best actual shooting effort in quite some time -- perhaps ever as a Boilermaker. Sure, he's had streaks of point-scoring before, but going 4/5 from three-land? Never happened before. He's never had that high a percentage on that many shots -- he's never hit four in one game before. So that was very nice to see.

DJ Byrd also had a nice night, shooting 50% from the field and 100% from the line, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing five assists. That's the hustling DJ Byrd we know and love. And that's who he is. A guy who will get you 8-14 points each night, along with a lot of hustle, rebounds, assists and muscle. He's a combo, or a Leatherman, as Boilerdowd said. He's not a 20 ppg scorer. But it seemed like as the senior leader, he often felt like he had to be everything Rob Hummel was last year as a leader and hustler and primary scoring option, as well as a primary deep threat like Ryne Smith was... as well as a glass cleaner and defender like Chris Kramer was. I don't know any of this for fact, of course, but it sure seemed like DJ was trying to do it all and be the man the Boilers needed....and he was struggling under the weight of that pressure. Sound plausible?

In this game, you saw DJ do what he does. If someone else -- i.e., Terone or Hammons -- can dump in some points, DJ can be the player he is when he's at his best, which in turn makes this team better. So that was nice to see.

Another thumbs up goes to Coach Matt Painter, who it appears to us has decided to have the guys play who work the hardest and listen the best. Thus you saw Dru Anthrop get a lot of first half minutes, culminating in 17 overall (his most as a Boilermaker). You also saw Sandi start the game and get more minutes (16) than AJ Hammons (12). Was this a message to Hammons to work harder? Perhaps. If it is, I'm more than fine with it. I like Hammons a lot and love his game and have often found myself giddy with what he can become. But if Painter doesn't think Hammons is listening -- or, more critical if you're a Boilermaker, if he isn't working hard enough -- then I've got zero problem with Coach sitting the freshman down.

Related to that, I also think Matt is doing a good job of the thing that many fans of teams in down years pin their fading hopes to -- Hey, at least these guys are getting minutes. With guys like Ronnie Johnson, who is still prone to turnovers and moving a bit too spastically fast, the minutes are piling up and that's a good thing. It's exactly what Lewis Jackson did in his early years at Purdue and it led to him being so indispensable as a junior that he came back from an injury in February that year rather than sitting the whole year and redshirting.

I don't think anyone looked at the game with the Mildcats as a reason to be bullish on this year's team, but let me be a wet blanket anyway....Northwestern is not very good and they were dreadful on Sunday night. They looked like the Purdue teams that have been blown out this season by IU twice, Illinois once and, effectively, even this Northwestern team earlier this month. The Cats couldn't hit anything in the first half. Yet, down 18, they rattled home a three in the final seconds of the first session to cut the Boiler lead to 40-25. Still commanding, yes, but the Boilers had been up 29-9, and a 15-point lead is... how shall we put this... blowable.

Yet the Boilers continued to step on the purple throats in the second half, actually outscoring the Cats there by more than in the first half. As the Panda pointed out, the Boilers had their best shooting day in a while, cashing in at 53% from the field and 47% from three. Northwestern, on the other hand, shot an abysmal 29% and 22% from the field and three, respectively. Mercy, that is awful.

In addition, the free throw shooting situation continues to be bleak -- the Boilers canned just 57% of their shots from the line. That is just not getting it done and no matter how much these guys improve, consistently poor shooting from the line will limit them from ever growing into the team we hope they can be. It's really that critical.

And one more thing to note that I was less than pleased with -- the turnovers. No, not those delicious turnovers, but the kind that lead to fast breaks the other way (or in the case of Northwestern, slow breaks with bricks the other way). The Boilers turned the ball over 15 times against only 11 by the Cats.

So the Boilers shot terribly from the line and turned the ball over almost 50% more than their opponent and yet still won by more than 30. That should tell you just how atrocious Northwestern was.

In the end here, I'm not trying to be, as I joked, the wet blanket. There was a lot to like in this game and I think that no matter what, there's something to be said for the Boilers continuing to show up for games. Winning against anyone in the conference by 30 means you did an awful lot right, and there are countless examples in recent years of very talented teams who, once they realized their season was circling the drain, mailed it in (see 2012 Illinois Illini for further reading).

These wins feel really good for all of us, no matter what kind of season the team is having. You could make a very fair argument that the Boilermakers could finish the Big Ten season at .500 (would require one upset, plus winning two games against teams with currently the same record in the conference). At this point in the campaign, you look for small victories and steps forward where you can find them -- that would be a nice one to have.

Boilermaker Basketball: It was just Northwestern, but still Progress

John Terhune

It looked like a different team tonight in Mackey Arena and by that I mean, it actually looked like a team.  Purdue beat a depleted Northwestern squad 74-43, a stark contrast from the first appearance in Evanston which was the second game in the Boilers downhill spiral.

Tonight was the Terone show.  He shot 9-16 from the field, 4-5 from downton, had 6 rebounds, and a steal for 22 points in 28 minutes.  Terone could have probably dropped 30 tonight, but unlike Clappy, Painter benches his starters when up 30 in the second half.

The Boilermakers have averaged just 10.8 assists since the curb-stomping in Mackey by the Hoosiers and just 13 on the season.  Tonight they had 18 and put on the best passing performance of the season.

Purdue also shot very well tonight and well over the season average.  The Boilermakers didn't have a starter shoot under 50 percent and shot 52.9 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from beyond the arc tonight.

The excellent shooting, the excellent passing, an overall better hustle on defense, combined with a poor shooting Northwestern, allowed for one of Purdue's best performances of the season and by far the best since the West Virginia game.

Unfortunately for the Boilermakers they had to play in front of a lack-luster Paint Crew, but that is partially their own fault for the effort given the past few games.  That being said, it's still inexcusable to have that much of the student section missing.  I understand that it's exam week, I have exams myself this week, but just take two hours out of your study and show up.  Grab your beverage of choice, walk to the stadium and be loud.  I love the Paint Crew and the ones that showed up were trying their best, but what makes the Paint Crew so intimidating is the mass amounts of people.  Most of you will only be in school for four or five years, so take advantage of it.

Tonight I was impressed by the performance of the team as a unit, something that I haven't said often this year.  DJ Byrd was passing off on shots that were not high percentage and Anthony Johnson was off on his shot, but kept trucking and making good passes.  He looked like a point guard today.

Painter didn't start Hammons today, which I totally agree with.  Chooch has played hard the past few games and deserved the start.  Hammons only played 12 minutes tonight, a message was sent.

I must say even thought it was against Northwestern, I left Mackey happy tonight. I thought the effort was there and the team looked very good tonight.  Hopefully this is something they can build on to propel them the rest of the season.

Tonight looked like Purdue Basketball, something we've all been waiting for.  It really showed me that this team is going to be good eventually, we just need to have patience and have faith in Painter.

There are only two games left in Mackey Arena this season, both against program ranked in the top 10 at one point this season, so get to Mackey, be loud and CHOO CHOO MUTHAS.

Boilers Earn Pivotal Win over Northwestern: 87-77

Mackey was pretty dead tonight...but the telecast just didn't really tell the story; or should I say, the Paint Crew makes it seem like Mackey is the madhouse, even when it's not.  There were a few hundred empty seats...and a few thousand seats occupied by human-shaped lumps of mashed potatoes.  The three home losses have clearly taken their toll on Purdue's fanbase...but that doesn't make the lack of enthusiasm right, in my opinion.  I generally like my fellow sec. 102 patrons...but man, getting this crowd excited tonight was too difficult; and the game gave the fans plenty to cheer for...or against.  Let's start with the positives, shall we.

Coming off of an 84 point offensive explosion versus one of the nation's-best teams, The Forces of Good played a first 15 minutes that looked a lot like the first 15 minutes of the IU game- tons of missed lay-ups and short jumpers...but Hummel, Smith and Byrd pulled the struggling Boiler offense out of the crapper with some sharp shooting off of crisp ball movement to end the first half.

In the second half, we saw David Jonathan Byrd (goes by DJ) go batty on the Wildcats as he continued the trend of kicking ass in the blocks on defense while filling it up on offense.  He finished with 20 points, hit all of his free throws (5/5), and added three rebounds and 4 assists. He also used four of his fouls wisely without fouling out in spite of spending most of the game in the painted area.  For the second-straight game, Byrd's so-called Dad was on TV...but I'm pretty sure that DJ is really just a clone of his "father" as his Mom seems to be pretty darned good looking...and I can't see any resemblance to her, honestly. While DJ's Mom is pretty, his game might be prettier right now.

Look Who's back!

His pal, Robert John Hummel (goes by Rob or Robbie) looked like the guy we fell in love with a few years ago- he finished with 27 points (while shooting 50% from the field and from three), went 12/14 from the stripe as he helped salt away the game, added a healthy 9 rebounds and a couple blocks on the night. When he's missing his shot, he's clearly jumping or leaning to the left...but when he's knocking it down, it's pure.

Friend of BS, Handsome Ryne Smith (some people call him Ryno) also helped rekindle our love for him...but not in the way you might think he did.  Sure, shooting 4/7 from three is nice...real nice actually...and adding a career high 7 rebounds along with three assists isn't too shabby either.  But Smith stuck his nose into a conflict at the end of the first half that I'll talk about in a bit.

Lewis Jackson IV (known around West Lafantastica and elsewhere as simply LewJack) didn't start the game and seemed to be struggling with on-ball defense a bit...but he fought through injuries to deal out 8 assists along with 4 rebounds and 5 points.  His fellow point guard, Barlow played stifling defense (at times), and asserted his will again; something that Purdue fans have grown to love to see.  If this guy could figure out how to do it game-in, game-out, he'd be all B1G, or better.  He finished with a near-double-double...10 points, 8 rebounds.  Terone Johnson had 11 points and four rebounds on a few of the patented tear drops and an important three...but had my favorite play of the day as he dove into the crowd to save the ball...tweaked his backa  bit...popped out of the crowd and scored moments later.  This was one of the few moments of the night in which all of Mackey showed its appreciation.

The effort in the closing three minutes was solid as Purdue put the game away- Our Boilers showed moxy and a bit of a chip on their shoulder at times; something they simply must do in the coming games if they have any chance of making it to the dance.  They hit 72.7% of their free throws...and out-rebounded Northwestern by 13 in spite of using a small line-up most of the night. The only true PF that played in the game was Carroll...for only three minutes.  Let's remember that NU had 14 more rebounds that the small line-up Boilers in Evanston a few weeks ago.

Now let me talk about a few things that aren't as positive as the above.

We all know that referee Mike Kitts has been known to make bone-headed mistakes, but he and his crews are quickly becoming some of my least-favorite, stripe shirt-clad blokes on the circuit. Kitts, like many of his counterparts have the perverted idea that people are there to see them.  We're not...in fact, I'd love to see a B1G game in which I don't even notice the officials; it doesn't happen.

Today's theme for Kitts' braintrust was pointless meetings.

After Drew Crawford swung a high elbow at Barlow, Crawford and Barlow got into eachother's faces.  Predictably, NU's resident D-bag, David-ay Curletti* jumped in...because that's what goons do.  Ryne Smith, probably feeling like I do about the psuedo-Euro, Curletti, quickly came in to level the uneven conflict.

All of this happened within feet of an official and directly in front of Purdue's bench.  After a long meeting, they ruled the elbow wasn't a big deal, gave Barlow the reach-in...and double (cop-out) techs to Barlow and Crawford.

I like Crawford...the son of an NBA official, by the way...but he was whiny and clearly frustrated tonight. His antics should have had him disqualified in the first half.  Instead, he wasn't ruled out of the game until his second tech at the 1:25 mark.  This play was another doozy.

The baseline official called a charge on Crawford as Byrd was set in his path.  Crawford reacted by spiking the ball down...which got him automatically ejected from the game (coincidentally, it was his fifth foul).  Crawford was allowed to stay on NU's bench after the ejection (that's against NCAA rulebook sec. 23, articles 1 and 2**).

Another meeting came at this point.  The final ruling after the meeting was that the official at the top of the key over-ruled the charge and made it a block...and the tech stood.  While the officials met and had their tea party, NU got their third un-charged timeout of the game as this crew seemed to encourage the Wildcats to take two-to-three minute TOs during their meetings...oddly enough, Purdue's coaches didn't get the same advantage.

I don't like officials...and I'm not a big fan of Curletti either...but you guys already knew that.

Alright, back to the important stuff.

-John Shurna is a good and ugly ball player...in the line of ugly and effective players like the 80s Boston Celtics.  His off-balanced shot is very effective and his length makes him a tough match-up.

But, Shurna's 30 points seem to be another example of Purdue's defense struggling to shut down good long-range shooters.

-Northwestern had won three-straight games and climbed into the #36 position in the RPI poll.  Their 15-8 record made them a nearly-mirror image of Purdue on paper. So Purdue's second win over the Cats was very important for Purdue's NCAA tourney chances.  That said, there's a lot of work left to do.

9 B1G teams are candidates for at-large bids...and it looks to me like 7 will make the tourney.  Illinois, Purdue, and Northwestern have 9 losses...Minnesota has 8...Michigan has 7.  Purdue is now 4-1 versus this group.  And on Wednesday, Matty's squad goes to Champaign...and the other four teams will all play another team in the group at least once each before the B1G tournament...a lot can still happen.

Coming together?

-Ryne Smith having Barlow's back might be a bigger deal than it seemed to be when it happened.  Rumors have swirled about a dust-up between the two last Spring...and while NO ONE I know can confirm if there was any conflict, Smith might have put to rest an idea that this team lacks continuity and chemistry...and in the process helped to galvanize a team that seems to need to take a step forward together.  This play was an example of why I like this year's fiery Senior class...Hopefully the fight we've seen in the last two games is a sign of a new trend not a mere exception to the sometime-heartless efforts we've seen far too often this season.


*It looks like I'm not the only one who is annoyed by Curletti.  He's no longer a starter, his minutes have been reduced and Carmody and Co. were chewing on him a lot today.  Good for Carmody and his assistants.


**Section 23. Ejection
Art. 1. Ejection is the act of dismissing an individual from participation in 
a game because of a specific infraction of the rules.
a. In addition to being disqualified, an individual who is ejected shall 
leave the playing court and floor area and report to his or her team’s 
locker room until the game is over.
Art. 2. The following shall result in automatic ejection:Rule 4 / definitions 69
a. Committing a flagrant personal foul or flagrant technical foul;
b. Incurring the maximum number or combination of technical fouls

Boilers Survive in Evanston and Advance to Bye Week

People seem to have a short memory...but mine is differently.  Whereas many Purdue fans saw this game as a slam dunk, all I could think of was how Evanston was a house of horrors for Matty's teams...and this year would be no different. Hell, even when the forces of good prevail in their shortest roadtrip in the conference, it's never easy...and shocker, this one wasn't easy.

The preparation for the Wildcats must be torture for Painter...it forces him to put Purdue defenders in *gasp* a zone...and I'm sure it's a pretty crappy one. Painter seems as opposed to zone defenses as I am to diets formal attire.

So as Purdue came off of a few days of practice versus what is surely one of the worst zone defenses in America, they had to play Northwestern's extended 1-3-1...and their confusion and lack of ability to attack it showed.

Let me take that back, LewJack and TJohn did a pretty good job at attacking the gut of the defense, but the opportunities were few...and Purdue, predictably, shot like rubber dog doo for much of the contest.  The half time score was a painful 22-26, with the good guys holding the lead because of AJ's last-second three.  But Hummel, Smith, Byrd and pretty much everyone was struggling to put the ball into the orange ring.

Before I get into any details any further, lemme say a few things about some unimportant things.

First, I've heard people call the Welch-Ryan Arena a glorified high school arena.  Let's be honest, there's nothing glorified about that place. The site lines are bad, it's got some sort of black pipe hanging across the court, it's tiny and their recently stain job to the court is nasty-bad.  I liked it in renderings...and throw up a bit in my mouth each time I see it on the television now. It makes a HD picture look like bleached out video from the 80s or before.  None of this changes the fact that it's a tough place to win.  It's a lot like Cameron Indoor Stadium...without any of that pesky history to get in the way of outsider's opinion of it.

"Another Bang-up job, B1G officials!"

Next up, the fact that Davide (David-ay) Curletti was still in the game when the clock hit triple-zero is a huge indictment on the crappy job the B1G officials do.  Sure, Curletti got sick of spelling and pronouncing his name during his childhood over and over...so he developed a chip on his shoulder, but he was flat-out playing like a douche today.  He threw a high elboy into Smith's chin, threw elbows at Hummel and Carroll and grabbed Hummel, TJohn and others over and over.  I always gave the guy a pass since I figured he didn't speak English...he looks European, his name is Euro...but no, he's from Michigan...and his jerk style of play has everything to do with him being a punk on the court and nothing to do with his pseudo-Euroness.  I'm sure he's the salt of the earth when he leaves the violet-stained court, but he's unlikable when in purple...and will make it easier for me to root against NU as they continue their tourney 0-fer this season.

Not everyone on that squad is a jackface though...I kind of like Crawford; and the dude just killed Purdue today.  And Shurna looks like a 7th grader, but can fill it up...but this team, with its lack of depth and un-Big Ten-like athleticism, should be beaten a lot in the conference...and it turns out they are.

They had a running start coming into conference play- 10-2...but since they entered their own house of horrors, the B1G, they're 2-6...but they almost stole one today.  Carmody called this a must-win for the 'Cats...and Curletti, Shurna, Crawford and Marcitullio all played like it was.  At the same time Purdue played drowsy and struggled.

One of the tri-captains in particular, Hummel continued to grind and struggle to score. But for the second-straight game, he was the center of a small line-up.  The end result is he's not getting the opportunity to get after as many loose balls as usual...he finished with only 3 rebounds. Marcius and Lawson didn't take off their warm-ups...and Carroll only played 11 minutes; so this was a small Purdue team.  Byrd is back to playing the power forward role on defense- which I think is a pretty natural place for him.  But the story on the day was TJohn's ability to get to the middle of the zone and stay under control.

Boilers Hold on to victory -58-56, in Evanston.
(serious question- is back part of the ball?)

TJohn finished with 14 points on 60% shooting (only 25% from the stripe, of course).  He also had 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and just one turnover.  He continues to raise his level of play...and make ignorant Purdue fans eat their words- bite by tasty bite.  For some reason, many thought he should've come into God's Country and averaged 10-15 pts/gm...but like almost everyone, it's taken him time to get comfortable.  And also, he WASN'T HEALTHY AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS SEASON! He looks healthy and nearly in shape now.

LewJack gutted out 8 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals...Byrd had 12 & 4...and both Barlow and AJ were pretty productive in limited minutes.  Smith had an un-Smith like day, not only shooting poorly, but not getting many rebounds (2) and only registerring 1 assist.  Hummel's play was tough to watch at times...but his sizable shot in the closing seconds over Curletti was the dagger, possibly on the Wildcats NCAA tourney-seeking heart.

It wasn't pretty...in fact, it was damned ugly...but a digit in the left column is something this team desperately needed.  And Big Shot Rob returning right before a bye week might be exactly what this team needed to see to remind them that they belong in the NCAA tournament this spring.

I hope this game can be viewed as a turning point of sorts for a team that still has no defensive identity...but we won't know that for at least another month.  What we do know is that the shiny tan Forehead and his minions will be bringing their stench squad to Mackey one week from today. After that, they travel to Columbus for a tough one, then back to Mackey to play these Wildcats once again.

The 3-Twaun Show: Purdue Beats 'Cats 82-69

Golden Performance

Smooge started off hot from long distance and ended the day the same way. And thanks to his shooting and a couple of big Ryne Smith shots in the second half, Purdue stayed hot and won its eighth-straight game.

Northwestern is like the 1980s Boston Celtics of the BT. No, I don't mean they're a dynastic team that will win championship after championship. What I mean is they have some of the ugliest-looking dudes in the game...but they can ball (they're the 41st team according to the RPI). I used to say that Minnesota had some guys that, as an athlete, I'd make sure didn't beat me. Northwestern is filled with guys like that- Players that are simply awkward looking- from their star (who could start anywhere in the nation), Shurna, to the Paint Crew's favorite Mirkovic to the unlikable (and bush league player) Capocci to Curletti. They've got a ton of guys who make me think that Carmody has outlawed weight lifting and modern razors for anyone who's caucasian. But I digress...

A ton of Purdue fans have asked who would replace Chris Kramer's fire. Well, we saw some fire today from Ryne Smith. He played hard all game, took good shots and ended the day with 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Plus, he was 7-7 from the stripe...and Purdue needed that as Moore and Johnson had a few uncharacteristic misses in the second half that could have helped create some breathing room.

Against a zone, particularly one that is as good as Northwestern's you've gotta be able to shoot. If you don't you'll leave the contest with an 'L'. So, with NU collapsing on JJ, Moore took advantage (this is becoming a recurring theme). Moore finished with his career high in three pointers (7) and the game-high 31 points to go along with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block. He was a catalyst for a lot of good things on both sides of the court and looked like an All-American.

JJ had another double-double- 19 points & 10 rebounds, and served an important purpose as he forced NU's defense to contract time and time again, simply out of respect. He, like Smith also got pretty fired up a few times in the game, which is always good to see from him.

Byrd and Barlow combined to stifle and frustrate the injured Shurna for stretches of the game before NU's leading scorer pretty much pulled himself from the game due to pain in his ankle. But, I like what I saw from both defensively. But, I really liked some of what Barlow did offensively too, especially late in the first half and early in the second half. In fact, he and Smooge connected for an electrifying alley-oop off of the break that was damned-handsome and macho. But, at the same time, Barlow looked careless with the ball at times and had a few needless behind the back passes that were so low that they nearly careened off of the pass-receiver's hands/shins. He continues to befuddle me as a guy that has limitless potential...if only he could figure out how to keep his head on straight.

Jackson has officially settled into a very nice groove offensively- he's driving and finishing effectively when needed, playing strong on-ball defense and setting up the offense very well. He finished with 8pts, 5ast, and a really fun-to-watch block that ended the half. The one problem he had was he had an inordinate amount of TOs (4) as NUs trap clearly effected him.

TJohn came back down to earth a little bit after his 10point performance v. UM and finished with 4pts, 4reb, but had 4 assists...and once-again, his legs looked fresh once again and...he'll be very important as the BT season progresses. I thought we'd see Bade and Marcius get a few minutes tonight, but I guess the fact that the 'Cats bigs often end up around the three point line, caused Painter to keep them on the bench.

As you know, if you visit here regularly, this game worried me...especially in the wake of the hot-shooting performance by the Forces of Good in Crisler earlier in the week. But, Purdue ends the game with another victory and with each of the recent games, I'm getting the feeling that Matty's squad is really beginning to understand what they need to do, versus different types of teams, to effectively put them away. The defense is creating a faster-paced offense, the out-of-bounds plays look better than they have since Painter returned to campus, and the defense, while still-inconsistent, is becoming a mother yet again.

Next up, the Boilers get a mini-break, then play PSU in five days in front of hundreds in Happy Valley.

Home Away From Home Highlights

H&R CEO/Emperor, T-Mill and I were in a similar situation Saturday night- we were both buried deep in the South-Eastern US and couldn't get to a TV with BTN. If you were like me on Saturday, you too savor these tasty morsels from the BTN...after the jump.

Boilermakers Beat Northwestern In Only One Statistical Category: Points

"You get what you deserve in football, and Pat Fitzgerald's team had this coming."
- Adam Rittenberg

What do we say about this one?  The Boilermakers found a way tonight in Evanston, beating the Wildkittens 20-17. The disturbing trend of winning games people don't think they'll win and losing games they're expected to win continued for this team.

Let's not sugar coat this. It was an ugly win. Let's also remember that Northwestern wasn't exactly a powerhouse 5-0, ranked team. However, they were 5-0, they were ranked and they were at home. In recent years, winning road games against undefeated and ranked teams has not been part of Purdue's bag of tricks. I'll let someone else look that one up, but it hasn't happened many times.

The somewhat hilarious irony of it all is that Purdue's offense is still a shell of what we thought it might be in 2010. Sure, some of that -- a lot of it -- has to do with the injury issues. But now we're looking at a team that really just runs the ball -- and doesn't have any true running backs available other than Dan Dierking.

This is a team whose QB was 6-of-18 for 47 yards and a pick. Yikes. I mean....yikes.

That said, Rob Henry continues to grow up before our eyes. No, he's not yet confident with the throws. But let's also remember his receivers didn't do him a whole lot of favors tonight. The pick in the end zone was pretty clearly an underthrown rainbow and yet OJ Ross simply watched it sail majestically into the arms of a NU defender. No, I'm not blaming OJ. But he could help out a little there. And on that subject, too many times when Henry did throw the ball, the receivers reacted like Wile E Coyote had just thrown a lit stick of dynamite at them.

But Rob Henry led this team tonight. They believed in him; that much was clear, at least to me. And Rob ran for 132 yards on 16 carries, including a TD. Best of all, he never looked panicked. He never looked spooked. He never made critical bad decisions.

Purdue was once again outplayed. Let's state that as well. But a solid defensive effort and some special teams magic can make special things happen. But let's look at the numbers. Purdue only had 279 total yards in this game. Northwestern had 305....passing. Purdue had 13 first downs; NU had 23. Purdue held the ball for eight fewer minutes than Northwestern.

But Kawann Short got his paw on a FG attempt by NU that would have made it 20-13 and, I think it's safe to say, effectively ended the evening's festivities. Purdue then looked like they had more life than we've seen in a long time -- perhaps all season. Henry led an inspired drive that made me proud of the boys all over again.

Earlier in the game, things looked as bleak as they have recently. Predictable, boring play calls, too many draws...the usual. The amazing thing was that there were flashes of excitement when Coach Nord did get a little creative. Mind you, I'm not talking about wild and crazy plays.... I'm talking about an end around, some creative misdirection on an option play, that sort of thing. These aren't nutty, crazy play calls...but compared to the boring crud we've been witnessing, they were refreshing. Let's see a few more of these and maybe a really fun play mixed in here and there.

I know that winning this game might lead the coaching staff to think they should keep doing what they're doing -- but let's not kid ourselves. Purdue was outgained and out played for much of this game. They took care of the ball, though, and NU missed a game-tying FG and had the aforementioned one blocked. For a change, the Boilermakers were the recipients of the kind of good fortune that seems to always land on teams like Northwestern.

Let's enjoy this one. 1-0 in conference. Can't be better than that.

One Step Closer

With just two games remaining, our Boilers are in the position to win at least a share of the Big Ten title. Quite a position to be in especially when one remembers that this class of Freshman really isn't anything to get all excited about and the lone Senior on today's Senior Day contest at Mackey has contributed only a minimum throughout the season.

Honestly, I've has a pretty bad feeling about the next game in Columbus since this scenario started shaping up. But, I'm hoping a superior scheme, a higher level of defensive pressure and a much higher level of hustle can beat the better-shooting, more-athletic Buckeyes on their home court come Tuesday. Regardless, a few benchmarks have been reached with today's win: First, Purdue now has a first-day bye for the Big Ten tournament. Second, this team has tied a record for the most home court wins during a season (16 wins last season as well) and has gone undefeated at home during conference play (something vital when pursuing a conference championship). Another thing they did was something Gene Keady teams used to do back in the middle/late 90s- own February. The lone loss to IU on the road was the only blemish in a month which Purdue leaped from the low-100s in the RPI to the top-25 as well as went from unranked and unimportant to ranked as high as 15th and a shoe-in for the dance. Great month.

This afternoon, our Boilers started off slowly...shooting poorly from the field and the free throw line. And Chris Kramer did what he could to keep Purdue close by piling up six steals in the first 20 minutes of the contest. Due greatly to Kramer's efforts, Purdue went into the half with the smallest of leads.

The second half started out slowly offensively for the Boilermakers, but just minutes later, they seemed to exhaust and overcome the Wildcats as Scott Martin suddenly got the hot hand and Robbie Hummel started throwing them in as well. Purdue's one-point lead had swelled to 10. It didn't get any easier for Northwestern from there. Their zone seemed uneffective and Purdue's defense seemed to greatly frustrate the Cats as Purdue continued to add to a 15, 20, and 25 point lead. Purdue ended the game with Chris Reid scoring and Bobby Buckets getting in that column as well. Plus, Terrance Crump got chanted off the court by the Paint Crew as he sat down for his final time at Mackey. Crump played a significant amount of minutes due to Keaton Grant's illness...Painter kept him out for (I believe) the entire second half. It's good to see that Purdue's only Senior had the chance to get a bit of recognition from his fellow students.

Hummel scored 15 points in 17 minutes...Martin, who started where he had left off v. Minny (poorly), found his stroke by nearly going for a double-double and ended with 10 pts., 9 reb. Calasan was timely with his scoring, contributing 11 points...and E'Twaun Moore played well during stretches of the contest, but was also plagued with the disease of poor-shooting during chunks of the game.

Like all veteran-laden teams, Purdue simply wore down and put away the weaker opponent...Wait a second, this team's not filled with veterans. At least they weren't prior to February anyway. It's late in the season, and this group of youngsters have become grizzled veterans and their identity has developed as well, this Purdue team knows how to grind out wins against teams that simply aren't as good as they are. It's a combination of factors that has made this the case, in my opinion. First this team has great chemistry and seems to understand that there is always a guy that can step in and contribute offensively, even if someone else is off. Second, good, intense defense wears down teams. And lastly, but surely not least importantly, Painter has put these guys in the position, through substitution patterns and game-planning to win a lot of games...23 to be exact. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll receive one, if not multiple COtY awards at the end of this season.

I'm hoping I'm very wrong about the game in Columbus, but the discount arena has always been a tough place for Purdue to play. Furthermore, despite their record, this aOSU team is still very talented. In fact, there was a time when the only Freshman in the Big Ten that were getting publicity nationally were Koufos and that guy down in Bloomington. Now, a once sure-fire one-and-done player, Koufos seems to be destined to return to Matta's club next season. I think the outcome of Purdue's next game will define if Purdue is a Big Ten regular season champ or not.