Kittens Tamed for second time in '09

First off, thanks to the Forehead and the gritty Indiana Hoosiers. Clearly, they wore out the talented Lions. IU's superior conditioning and never-say-die attitude, allowed Purdue to prevail in its first game of the '09 BT tourney.

Let's just say, every Purdue fan knew it was going to be a good night as Nemmy started off the night 2-for-2 from behind the arch. It continued as Keaton Grant channeled KG of '08 (yet again) and made PSU's match-ups extremely difficult by hitting 5-of-6 three pointers (he finished with 15 pts). Hummel led all scorers with 20 and shot nearly 70%...and looked especially fluid in the second half. LewJack played quietly, but his quickness set up a fast-break triangle on a few occasions that led to open shots. Moore quietly assassinated the Lions with 15 pts, 6ast, 4reb, 1stl and 1blk. Add to all that Chris Kramer bringing the roof of Conseco down just a bit with a tremendously athletic dunk...and attacking the hoop on a couple occasions. JJ was kept at bay, which makes me think he'll unleash the fury of hell on the Illini tomorrow. Both teams took good care of the ball, but Purdue only turned the ball over 5 times while having 20 assists- and that's pretty much your story.

NCAA Basketball Stats

If you didn't get to watch the game, you missed a very fluid, up-tempo Purdue offense unlike any we've seen this season. The defense was solid, but seemed to have a few lapses due to overpursuit and poor spacing- but honestly, I'll take this trade any day. Case in point, PSU scored 65 points...and Purdue still won. Our Boilers are now 2-9 when they allow the opponent to score over 64 points.

Purdue shot free throws well, when given the opportunity (7-for-9)...But the officials made damned sure that lil' Jamelle Cornley was protected, especially in the second half as phantom fouls made sure the tough PSU power forward wasn't injured by Purdue's brutish big men. Outside of that, it seems the officials did their collective job.

I really liked the energy I saw from Matty during the game...he seemed fired up, even as Purdue led by 20+ points in the second half. This game was an example of what this team has needed to do in multiple situations this season- they slammed the door shut and left no doubt of victory.

This way to the championship?

The Boilers should be ready to play tomorrow as they face Matty's ole boss...while the pace of tonight's game was fast, it seems no player had to play too many minutes and other than a boo boo on Kramer's leg and Buckets getting a bloody nose, Purdue comes out of the game very healthy.

Tomorrow's 4:05 tip-off on CBS gives Purdue a chance to avenge two painful losses against another team that I think simply isn't as good as Purdue. If Painter can break the spell that Weber has on him, Purdue will be playing in the Championship on Sunday.

BUCKETS!!!!

Paint Crew and Purdue fans love Bobby "Buckets" Riddell. He walked-on as a Freshman and played a lot of minutes without a schollie as David Teague and Carl Landry recovered from injuries...but since that season, he hasn't played a whole bunch. Sure, he'd get in during garbage time, or grab a few minutes here and there, but really nothing too significant.

But tonight, the 5'8" (or so) Lafayette product lit up the Lions by hitting his first four shots; three of those being behind the arc. He ended the game with his career high 13 points (5-7 shooting) . Atop that, he had 4 assists, 2 rebounds, a block and a steal. Pretty solid line. But two other guys had good nights as well. First, another Senior, Nemmy, scored 14 points (4-6 shooting), 3 rebounds, an assist and a block. The other half of the twin towers probably had the best game...JJ continues to add wrinkles- long jumpers, turn-arounds, post hooks, and tonight a dribble-drive from outside of the arc. His double-double seemed effortless as he finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 assists.

The guy who, according to the box score, was quiet, but actually played a big role was LewJack. He was guarding Talor Battle for most of the contest...Battle finished 0-7 with 0 points...only 18.2 off of his norm. LewJack finished with only two steals, officially...but I counted three; and he was disruptive all game. He also had 5 assists (but 3 TOs)...I hope the Anti-LewJack Assn. (ALJA) can see that this guy is promising...and he's progressing each game. Just remember when you come around, that Boilerdowd will still be driving the LewJack bandwagon, and there's always room for more aboard this bus!

While Smooge didn't have the offensive explosion that I was anticipating, he did begin to shoot himself out of his slump, and finished with 10 points. Kramer shot the ball a lot, for him (4 times), and finished with 5 points...but most interestingly, he guarded Cornley in the second half (he only gives up 2 inches and 35 pounds on PSU's #2). Grant and Green were extremely quite; Green only played 7 minutes. Hopefully they both find ways to contribute when called upon, because they will both be needed during the stretch run.

Make no mistake, my fellow Purdue alums and friends, while Buckets' line is fun to talk about, team defense was the story in this game. We've seen Purdue really ratchet down on a few teams this season- Davidson, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and PSU, earlier tonight. Following two lackluster defensive games, Purdue returned to form and held the Lions to under 37% shooting; teams don't win too often shooting below 40%...and the magic number of 64 once again proved to be pertainent. When Purdue opponents score less than 64 points, Purdue's record is 18-0, this season.

This game is important for a lot of reasons- But the the biggest probably that it shows these guys that they can win without the Ostrich...something they desperately needed to do for their own psychee. I have no reason to believe we'll see Robbie playing in Iowa...so that means, he'll have rested for 17 days when Sparty comes to West Lafayette to face the new look Boilers...who knows if he'll play or how much, but I don't know how Painter's team can beat Izzo's squad without the services of Hummel.

Another important aspect of tonight's win is that it allowed the team to rest. An 8-man rotation was utilized, and the bench actually responded as Moore got in early foul trouble. And inspite of Purdue's normal extended man-to-man, no one seeme tired at the end of the game. Did anyone notice Purdue playing a type of zone defense tonight at the end of the first half? I know Painter doesn't like zone, but this switching man D closely resembled what I'd call zone.

Stats by StatSheet.com

defense feeds offense...Boilers put it away in the second half

Purdue hearts Iowa this coming Saturday at 4:05.