Three-Headed Monster Slays Sparty: 86-76

We knew it would happen. We knew Smooge would return to his old form. He showed a bit of it v. PSU on Wednesday, but he showed it all versus MSU tonight. He created his own shot, knocked down the long ball and *gasp* even shot a free throw or two!! It was good to see Moore back at it. But, he wasn't the story tonight in God's Country. The win was a team effort.

Let's look at the supporting cast first, shall we?

Alright, before we address the large, athletic gentlemen on the hardwood, let's talk about the 14,123 who surrounded them. The first thing you guys did is made it a tough ticket for MSU fans to get- nice going! Second, you guys were amazingly-loud and clearly made a difference in the game- If nothing else, you gave the Forces of Good something to look forward after the upcoming short roadie to the land of squeaky-clean BT athletics. Many accounts tell me this might have been the loudest Mackey's been in the last 20 years...that's saying a lot.

Now, onto the playahs, playah.

J's favorite player right now, Carroll, didn't play a ton of minutes, but he helped close the door a couple times on defense. I think the minutes he's getting now will be important during the post season when Matty unleashes JJ defensively. He's destined to get into some foul trouble at that point, and these minutes for Carroll are getting him comfortable playing good competition in various conditions. Even Marcius played a couple of minutes and looked tough battling the sizable MSU PF/bigboy Nix.

Ryne Smith had a couple very good looks from deep. But, my favorite part of his game was his rebounding tonight. He did a great job coming up with key boards in the second half as MSU struggled to get back into the game. He also had a few plays in which he simply sold out defensively...that stuff is contagious.

DJ Byrd did what Purdue fans love of him. He scrapped like an underdog fighter, matched up admirably against bigger forwards, distributed the ball like a guard on offense, had a few timely buckets and made the most of his 20 minutes.

Kelsey Barlow played my favorite game of his this season. His stat line isn't too loud: 6pts, 4ast, 2blk. But, he played with his normal chip on the shoulder, yet had some discipline about him. He pulled the ball back a few times wisely instead of driving into a double-team. He hit some key free throws, he frustrated multiple MSU players as he rotated in on defense and was completely in the head of those guys- specifically Green and Lucas. He also had a thunder slam in traffic late in the second half that tore the metal roof off of Mackey like J ripping into an XL can of Hormel Chili. Mmmm, Mmmm!

Now, let's talk about the stars of tonights really big show.

JJ was pretty quiet for much of the game. Izzo and co. double teamed him and beat on him in order to keep him from making too much of a difference in the contest...and the tactic was effective for about 25 minutes. He finished with 20 points, not enough rebounds and a block. But once again, shot his free throws well (6/7). On a few occasions, it seemed pretty obvious that Matty had instructed him to not go for the block. This resulted in a few easy scoring opportunities for the Spartans. I think this is pretty wise at this point as it keeps him fresh on the offensive side...but there will be a time when he simply must be a difference-maker on both sides of the court again...perhaps Tuesday v. anOSU?

The smallest guy on the court was nothing but HUGE. LewJack out-Lucased MSU's Lucas. His on-ball defense was stifling and frustrating as usual. He shot the ball well from the field (6/9) and from the stripe (7/8). But his pace was amazingly-quick...and he finished amongst the trees, with a ton of contact time and time again. Since the turn of the year, this is all 23 had done: 10pts,3ast,4reb/gm. Not too shabby, huh? But tonight, his 19/2/5 game was a thing of beauty...and was arguably the best game of his career so far.

The game ball, of course, goes to 33. He was nearly-unstoppable for the first 30 minutes of the game. He finished with 26 points, but had 24 with over 11 minutes left in the game. He had 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals to go along with his 9/18 shooting night. He played a very complete game and exuded the confidence that we haven't seen since last decade (see, that's a joke because it's 2011).

For much of the game, Purdue's team effort, solid defense & opportunistic offense kept them up by double-digits over Sparty. In spite of that, Izzo used three time-outs in a 1.5 minute period and had his boys fouling Purdue with over 2.5 minutes left. His effort to extend the game did just that...but I think the real reason you employ this tactic is to shrink the deficit and try to win. Even when it seemed pretty clear that it wasn't going to happen, he kept telling his team to foul and kept calling timeouts. At the end of their effort, Purdue still won by 10 points.

MSU falls to 12-7 overall and 4-3 in conference...they'll surely still be getting first place votes come Monday morning in both polls...at least that's what Vitale tried to convince me of as Purdue was drubbing the Spartans (another quality color job by Dickie V!!).

As for our Boilers, they're in a pretty great situation heading into the game versus the #1 team in the nation. From what the media tells me, they have little chance to win...so they've got nothing to lose. aOSU has a ton of length and creates difficult match-ups for Purdue...and they have so much talent. Perhaps our Boilers shouldn't even show up in the Discount Arena?

Whether Matty will take the entire team or not for the road trip, I haven't yet heard. But, you and I can tune in to watch this David v. Goliath story on EsPN at 9:00 on Tuesday.

Always Bet On Black

The forces of good wore black this evening in East Lansing while MSU's crowd matched the blanket of snow that seems to be covering a third of the nation right now. But 10,000 plus white T-shirts couldn't help defeat the motivated and well-prepared Boilers, as Purdue earned its first game in the left column at MSU since the late 90s.

We all knew this game was for a significant amount of smooth, shiny glass balls...but man is the conference race different now than it was this afternoon, thanks to the road dog Boilers (not to mention the Illini).

Van Pelt, who's one of the few EsPN employees who still has his own thoughts, has started calling Purdue's Junior class the Big Three. I like it. Back in '88, Lewis, Stephens and Mitchell were the Three Amigos...and that's no longer timely, so for now, the moniker will stick.

In the first half JJ flexed his muscle time and time again. On the shoulders of tremendous passing, Johnson was given some amazingly-easy looks at the basket. Whether it was Barlow, Jackson, Moore or Hummel, JJ was fed enough to keep him very full in the first twenty minutes. The second half started out much different as he had the ball knocked loose by smaller players quite a few times. After the blood sugar regulated, Johnson finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds and three blocks.

The second of the Big Three, did what he does- hit shots when he had to, made a ton of plays with and without the ball and finished with 15 points, 5 reb. & 5 ast. When he was out of the game with foul trouble midway through the second half, it was felt as the lead shrank to 3...after re-entering, the match-ups became much more difficult for Izzo's squad and Purdue's lead quickly got back to double-digits.

Smooge was huge...the hugest of the Large Trio...He finished with 25 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists. He started off quickly and ended the game the same way as he hit a massive three pointer and then a signature teardrop to put the game out of reach for the green.

LewJack might have literally broken Austin Thornton's ankles on this play at the end of the first half

Atop of the Junior class, the rest of the team seemed to understand its role. Patrick Bade played a quiet few minutes to end the first half that helped keep any Boiler from fouling out. John Hart's energy was once-again tremendous and he was 1-1 behind 20.9. Lewis Jackson played valuable minutes and had a couple crossovers that made MSU defenders look perplexed, disjointed and tottering...but was once again quiet on the stat sheet. Keaton Grant played a solid 19 minutes as he hit a pair of big free throws down the stretch and was steady defensively. Kelsey Barlow showed some flashes of brilliance and nearly posterized a few MSU defenders...but settled for a few free throws instead. Kramer was hampered by foul trouble nearly the entire game, but had a key drive and finish in the second half that silenced the Spartan, yet capacity, Breslin Center crowd...and in the 17 minutes he played, seemed to be matched up with a 6'8" player for much of that time. I don't know of too many other wings that have to defend guys that are 6 inches taller than them on a regular basis, but Kramer does it well.

As predicted, Lucas played well on his bum ankle...but not well enough. I'm sure he'll be healthy in 18 days when MSU heads to God's Country.

Purdue did a lot very well this evening. For starters, they out-rebounded Izzo's squad played with purpose for most of the game and withstood a great run by Sparty in the second half as Erin Andrews and the Izzone watched from near by. They also had to endure what seemed to be an NBA officiating crew as these schmoes called at least three continuation fouls on Purdue that allowed, what should have been fouls on the floor, turn into 3-point plays. But no matter, crappy officiating is part of the deal, not just in the BT, but nationwide...Purdue's got to continue to keep the officials out of the equation by taking care of leads and closing teams out. The finished extremely-strong tonight, and won by 12, 76-64. Part of the reason Purdue looked so sound in the closing three minutes, in my opinion, is the rotation that had been up-in-the-air for most of the season, but is now clearly taking shape.

Next up, the Paint Crew gets to welcome home their road-hardened brethren and give them a pick-me-up before they head on to Columbus. Every game's important as we watch Matty attempt to do what Keady did so well- own February.

Big Time Atmosphere, Big Time Win

Sparty was prepared for a tough road game in Mackey tonight, and stuck tight with Purdue into the second half. But, as Purdue's guards extended, and JJ continued to alter shots, MSU was simply blown out of the water by Purdue's defensive pressure in an important BT contest. The atmosphere was hostile and loud...even some of the old guys got involved in making noise.

But sadly, some jackhole in row 16, Sec. 16 didn't like me standing up during different times of the game...and he was a Purdue fan.

Please note, I'm 5'4" (so wasn't blocking anyone's view)...wasn't cursing...and wasn't puting down any MSU players. This guy kept saying sit down. This of course forced me to stand up for the next three minutes. Then as the game got further out of hand, I turned around and asked him if it was OK that everyone in our section was standing. This jerk is what is wrong with Purdue sports. He's a microcosm for all of the small-time, unenthusiastic numb-nutted gold coats in the lower bowl that have to be all but begged to cheer, and even worse, don't like it when others are cheering, even in big games. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. There need to be more Paint Crew members in the lower half of my alma mater's basketball arena. Sorry for the sidebar, but this garbage infuriates me.

Paint Crew killed it tonight

Paint Crew- EXCELLENT JOB! Everything from riding the worst three officials in all of the land, to ripping up IU when the opportunity presented itself- you guys were loud and in the game. And speaking of those horrible officials, my brothers and I were yelling at Jim Burr after missing a series of reach-in fouls early in the first half. Not only did he not ignore us, he made a chatting hand signal toward us...Dude is a pro, huh! That's a joke, to me that an official would acknowledge the crowd during a contest, but he's a joke. Half of the game he was making stupidly-large signals for violations, the other half, it looked like he was late for his bed time.

Stealing Money

And Valentine and Hightower were no better...and probably were worse (as our pal Boilergal pointed out). The hand signals that we all have come to know for traveling, reach in, over the back and other calls are all out...they've been replaced with jumping around, running and pointing to a spot on the floor or a player (as if you're angry at him) or making a hugging motion or something else non-sensical. There was a period in the early second half where they called 4 personal fouls on Purdue, in a :50 period...two on Moore. They were ticky-tack to say the least, and were simply lousy...But these three stooges, in spite of their best efforts, weren't the story tonight. Defense was.

From the get-go, both Purdue and MSU were contesting every pass, drive and shot. And, from the low-angle from where I was watching, it was clear there weren't going to be a ton of fouls called. Both teams were grabbing, slapping and holding to make it difficult...it was physical- exactly what you'd expect from these teams and their coaches. And MSU, unlike Purdue in the early going, took advantage of free throw opportunities.

Not only was Purdue missing foul shots, our Boilers offense was pretty inept for the first 15 minutes or so. Outside of Hummel, not too much was working offensively. This trend changed in the second half as Jackson, Kramer and Grant started creating easy offensive opportunities by stifling the Spartans just as they started to run their offense. After that, Johnson's footwork couldn't be matched by Green, Gray or Suton. Johnson continues to look like an all-conference player.
The Ostrich showed signs of life as well as part of his game returned to form after a lousy showing in Iowa. He hit two three pointers and had two more go in and out...and on his first attempt, he was physically violated, and the refs didn't seem to notice the molestation. Hopefully, he can take it easy this Saturday. Grant played like he did last year as he shot 50% from behind the three point line. Atta boy, KG! Clearly, he's sick of hearing me ask the question, "where's the old Keaton?" Kramer was Kramer defensively, but had a couple of blocked shots that were impressive to me. Nemmy played well, but shot two three pointers in the first half...one nearly missed the rim. Green played the game that I like to see him play- gritty, hard-nosed and with the defense-first mentality that makes this team tick. Lewis Jackson played at a fast paced on both sides of the court, and much to the chagrin of the ALJA, seemed to make everybody better...all while throwing up during his time on the bench as the flu that everyone else has had has made its way into LewJack's system. And finally, Smooge shot well, played good defense and rebounded very well...he had too many turnovers, but his silky-smooth game seemed to be a tough match-up for the Spartans.

In the closing minutes, Buckets and the reserve brigade was on the court. After Bobby broke the ankles of a back-up Spartan guard, he hit a 20 footer (long two pointer, not a three). At that point, Izzo pointed to his starters on the bench and said, "Remember this!"

I like Izzo, because like me, he's passionate and short and likes basketball a whole lot...but he's too good of a coach to believe that shot was offensive...further, this Spartan team shouldn't need any more motivation as Purdue goes to East Lansing in two and a half weeks. (Thanks to the Big Ten for this "random" scheduling, by the way)

Defining Moment
Both Chris Kramer and Robbie Hummel set up for a charge in the second half, and the officials made the call in favor of Purdue...with both Purdue players on the ground, the three remaining Purdue players came and helped their team mates up from the ground.

Fun Facts
-MSU has the largest rebounding advantage per game at 10+...tonight, they won this battle again, by just 5.
-Purdue is now 20-0 when holding their opponent to 64-or-less points in this season.
-Purdue's defense made yet another good team look lousy as Sparty shot 32.7% and had 22 turnovers.
-As a team, Purdue continues to shoot the three poorly...but they keep shooting; good, I guess.
-This is the first victory versus a top-5 opponent at Purdue since I was in high school (and Matt Painter was still a player in West Lafayette)...1992, for those of you who don't own my book. While it's good that this streak has been broken, that stat is still shocking to me. Hopefully, they won't go another 16 years until the next win of this genre.
Cat Woman
You probably couldn't appreciate it on TV, but Erin Andrews was wearing pants and high heels that made it look like she was a naughty kitty cat. Sure, she had her standard weird shirt on...but she is stunning in person. This year, I didn't get to talk to her after the game as she raced off of Mackey's floor, but my section was only about 20 feet from her post...close enough to watch her work. You've heard me say it before, she's a tireless in-game reporter who is constantly pouring over her notes and stats.
Oldy Olderson
While I didn't get to hear it, some friends of mine have told me that Vitale sounded pretty awful tonight. Well, he didn't look any better. Hopefully his health isn't poor, but judging by the way he moved around off camera, I'd think otherwise. I am glad I didn't have to listen to him on the TV though.

Next Up
The Forehead and Co. come to Mackey on Saturday to square off at 2:00 in the afternoon...It'll be televised on BTN. Special thanks to the Big Ten's awesome scheduling that keeps Purdue from playing IU twice in one season, for the second-consecutive year.