Last season, Purdue was knocked out of the BT tourney in historically-bad fashion as they lost by 27 points to Minnesota. In that game, Purdue barely showed a pulse offensively while allowing nearly 40 points in the first half. The game was over at the break.
This game was similar in its end result...but probably worse. Tonight, the nation put much of its attention on the match-up that many thought would be a real test for the number 1-ranked Buckeyes. They were never tested. From the beginning, aOSU shot its way in the lead while simply stifling Purdue's offense.
The Discount Arena is a pro-style building...and at times, it looked like Matta's pros were playing a high school team.
Gone was Purdue's team defense that cuts off passing lanes, denies entry passes and defends nearly every look. In its place, was a team of Boilers that looked confused about their assignments, couldn't switch as the Buckeyes drove in and kicked out, and couldn't defend three.
After being down 17 just after the ten-minute mark in the first half, it only got worse. Matta's club entered the second half with a 20-point lead and it swelled to 29 before Matta and Painter seemingly tipped their caps to each other and pulled their leading scorers with around 10:00 left. Purdue ended up losing 87-64...but it felt much worse (and could have been).
JJ was effective at times, but couldn't match the physicality or moxy of Sullinger. On more than one occasion, Sullinger threw a hard elbow to get around the slighter Johnson only to see the refs whistle Johnson for the foul. JJ was probably Purdue's most-effective rebounder, and he wasn't very effective. He finished with 7 rebounds to go along with his 22 points.
I'd love to tell you Johnson was a bright spot on a gloomy day. But, I'd bet 25 thinks about this evening like I do- that it was flat-out ugly for everybody. The Buckeyes, and specifically their Freshman made a mockery of Purdue, and the worst part is Purdue did NOTHING to stop it. Our Boilers had no toughness from the starters, no goon off the bench to use up some fouls, no grit to dig in and fight back, no strategy to counter the onslaught. Purdue merely whimpered, put its tail between its legs and crawled out of the arena, thoroughly and completely beaten.
Purdue was out of sync in about every way on both ends of the court. Ohio State was motivated and sharp while Purdue looked over-matched, listless, slow and most-painfully soft. I'm not going to talk about individuals outside of Johnson simply because I might say something that I wouldn't usually say. This was a bad night, and while I hated what I saw, I still love the guys on this team.
Looking Forward
Matty's Boilers can rule out receiving any respect from the national media during the remainder of the season...Simply because respect should be earned. Purdue was tested and they failed in a massive way. And this game, while it's just one loss, is a huge blow to what this team really wanted to do this season. As a result of tonight, they might have a very hard time getting a high seed in the tournament and they'll have to do more from this point forward to be put in a position for success in March.
The Wofford game, in the Freshman season of the then Baby Boilers, became a watershed moment and rally cry for Matty and the staff. The only positive that could come out of a collapse like this, is if it becomes the same.
Next up, Matty's boys return to the friendly confines to face Minnesota...and hopefully take out some of their angst on the 18th-ranked Gophers.
Gigantic Portobello Mushrooms.
18 comments:
I was most disappointed in Smooge. He came up so big Saturday it was shocking to see him shrink in the face of pressure tonight. I hope this doesn't send the season into a tailspin but it felt like almost everyone quit tonight.
Purdue was fouled nearly every time down the floor, coupled with being called for looking at their defender...added to aO$U's shooting, they had no chance.
I think a lot of Purdue's "sucking" was this combo. It was ridiculous what was being called. By far and away the worst officiated game since the PSU loss at home with the infamous Jim Burr phantom calls.
Would Purdue have won with decent officiating? No, but their ineptitude caused our defense to change, our offense to never be able to flow, etc. By the first timeout this game was over.
I almost forgot how much I hated the Buckeyes before this game.
By the way...I wouldn't call this season ending. Remember WVU came to Mackey last year and got Bitch Slapped the way we did last night and still made the Final Four.
Word Verification: dizedly
That's the way we played last night.
At least the officials were involved in the game. I was too busy watching the Washington Generals...er...Boilers to notice the officiating.
My two "favorite" lowlights were:
- the one-and-one foul shot that the Boilers thought was a two-shot, leaving them standing slack-jawed while Diebler rebounded, scored and was fouled again.
- JJ's limp-wristed dunk attempt after Sullinger's three-pointer at the other end.
Bad game. Bad effort. Bad night to have it all happen.
My verification word is "xyascrea"
as in "Purdue played like
xyascrea-ment."
You could tell after halftime that Painter was done with this game and I don't fault him one bit. During one of the timeouts, his assistant coach was very animated while MP just sat there with a clipboard. Not much Painter can do when only 1 out of 11 guys showed up. This was an embarassing effort all the way around.
How JJ got called for a foul when Sullinger tried to dislodge one of JJ's kidneys, I will never understand. I am so sick of BT officials catering to the one and done superstars. There were so many anticpated fouls tonight that I moved from yelling at the tv to laughing in quiet rage before the under 8 timeout in the first half.
At least we beat them in football 2 years ago. That's what I've been telling myself since we turned the ball over on our opening possession.
I just wish the Florida Georgia game went into 6 OT's so I would not have had the chance to watch this debacle. What a 180 from Saturday nights effort.
Sullinger got away with murder in the paint. He also appears to be a jackass. Can't wait for his fat ass to come to Mackey.
Would also like to see Barlow wipe the smirk off Kraft's gay face.
Like Dan Dakich said on the telecast, no team in America was beating aO$U that night. Let's not feel too bad and move on. Their incredible shooting put the game out of reach early and our Boilers just couldn't recover. But do I think that the same result would occur against them every game? Of course not. On a neutral court and definitely in Mackey the Boilers can play with them. Sullinger initiates contact and gets calls, Lighty and Buford travel almost every time down the court, and Craft carries the ball more than LewJack. Granted the refs didn't beat us by 20+, but they didn't help. Coupled with their shooting last night we had no chance. Last year we lost 3 in a row and the sky was falling. Let's chill out and let Painter do what he does and get back on a winning streak.
Please no more referee comments...There is NO ONE else to blame but Purdue....NO ONE...We got away with some hacks ourselves...and we will not last in the big ten if we can't handle a physical basketball team. I agree with Dozer that the epitome of this disaster was the 1 and 1 foul shot that all 4 of our players in the lane fell asleep. This was shameful, sloppy, and must be forgotten in order for success on Saturday.
I'm taking the high road. Last night's game was disgusting in so many ways, but most of the nation was watching a bunch of lip service from our President so I haven't been abused on Facebook or Twitter... yet. I'm for just forgetting/denying this game happened. The good news is we have several challenging games immediately ahead of us... putting together a 3 or 4 game winning streak right now erases last night. But, I will say this... OSU is guaranteed a loss in Mackey Arena when they visit. Take that to the bank.
I felt like I did when aOSU's footballers slaughtered our boys last fall. It was over 2 minutes into the game.
Craft plays just plain dirty. The three barrage that started this game off took place alot in part because of Craft's illegal screens. Not only does he literally run right into the guy, but he continues to push him away from the shooter RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE OFFICIAL. Unbelievable that he would think he could get away with that. More unbelievable is that he did.
The kid is good and a clutch player. But you can't let him get away with that crap all day long. Coupled with his carries (every other dribble), he was the most frustrating player I've ever watched.
What really makes me angry though is the disrespect JaJuan Johnson receives from the media. All week this was billed as the battle of the two best big men. And if you watched the game, Johnson straight up dominated compared to Sullinger's performance. Sullinger was truthfully a non-factor. 11 points before Marcius and Bade came in? Please. Yet the highlight shows Johnson zero times and mentions his name zero times. And you'd think after watching it that Sullinger scored 80 of the 87 and dominated Johnson. And worse, the write-up from the AP mentions Johnson ONCE. How can ESPN just straight up refuse to give due credit when they were the ones giving that game the billing?
At some point, the Boilers will have to win a tough road game. Otherwise, I think we will be toast in the postseason tournaments.
Hammer, Craft is going to be one of those players like Brian Cardinal... By the time he is a Senior, every team in the Big Ten is going to feel like he's been at OSU for a decade. I'd love it if Purdue could find an Aaron Craft somewhere in Indiana. The kid is money and he's only a freshman. That fake he put on JJ was sick.
I'll give him credit for doing it. But sick? Sick is what John Hart did to Buford in the second half on the intercepted in-bounds pass. If LewJack was on the perimeter and DIDN'T beat Lauderdale to the rim he shouldn't be playing. Same is true for Craft. It's like pitting a running back versus the greatest offensive lineman ever and seeing if the lineman can cut off the angle to the endzone. Not gonna happen.
Actually, I would love to have Craft on our team... he schooled Lew-Jack all game.
i didn't scream at officiating during the game at all. You can't blame officiating. We got beat.
Im really not that disgusted by the Boilers either. Though they did play pretty lack-luster and could have played better, they falt-out got beat.
i mean, how do you seriously beat a team that goes 8-11 from 3 point land, hit every circus shot they throw up, and every shot they put up just because they're getting fouled. They were unstoppable.
Their defense was impeccable.
And they didn't make any stupid or foolish mistakes or turn-overs and found every open player every time.
And they were at home.
They played a perfect game.
Next time they play, Painter will have a better plan, the players will have extra motivation, Ohio St won't play as well (i don't think it is possible), and we'll be at home.
As someone else said, last year i saw West Virginia get pummeled by Purdue by 20+ points... and they still made it to the Final Four.
i hope this will be a watershed moment. They've lost 3 of 5 and got destroyed. Hopefully it pushes them forward.
Overall, i'm been mighty impressed by LewJack and Ryne Smith this season. They need a big man to step up.
The sad thing is those 3 losses were all on national tv. And we can't complain if the national media doesn't give much respect to Purdue after this one - but hopefully they earn it!
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