Coming into this game on a very cold Saturday the question on every Purdue fan’s mind was if the Purdue offense could get hot once again (there’s my one). Well, they started the first half with an incredibly
efficient half. Unfortunately for Boilermaker fans Illinois happens to have a guy by the name of Keaton Wagler who looked like something out of a video game in the first half. It made for some great basketball but it certainly was stressful.
John Wooden Memorial Player of the Game (JWMPOTG): I’m always loathe to give this award to an opposing player, but how can you give it to anyone but Keaton Wagler who absolutely went ballistic for the visitors? The most dominating performance I’ve seen EVER by an opponent in Mackey Arena. I originally had Evan Turner in the conversation but these two halves by Wagler are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. He single handedly won this game for Illinois. He finished this one with 46 points and 4 assists on 13-17 shooting including 9-11 from three.
Purdue fans had a lot of questions coming into this one. How would the Purdue defense look against the three point shot? Well, Illinois started 0-4 but then went 4-5 immediately after, so a mixed bag really. They ended the half 9-21 for 43% which is not what you want from your opponent. Especially a dangerous opponent like Illinois.
Would there be any changes to the starting lineup for the Boilermakers? There would not be. Same starting five as we’ve seen each game this season. However, that didn’t mean that the bench guys didn’t get plenty of run in that first half. Jack Benter had 7 minutes. Omer Mayer had 7 minutes and two big three pointers. Gicarri Harris was out there for 8 minutes and did a great job on defense with active hands and making Illinois look uncomfortable.
How would Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer look after their recent struggles? Well, for the first half at least both looked back to their normal selves. TKR went 4-5 from the floor while Loyer was 1-2 from deep but was also fouled on one and made all 3 free throw attempts. So that’s basically like being 2-3 right? Well it should count that way at least.
No discussion of the first half would be complete without looking at the aforementioned Keaton Wagler. The man was a video game in the first half. At one point he had 19 of Illinois’ 21 points. He was getting no help from the rest of the Illinois roster but still keeping them in the game. I’m not sure I’ve seen a more dominant individual performance from a visiting player in Mackey Arena since Evan Turner from Ohio State went nuclear in the second half. You’ve got to really appreciate when you see a performance like that even if it’s against your team. He was 7-9 from the floor including 6-8 from deep including at least one that was two feet behind the line that he took in stride. Purdue didn’t help their cause by always switching on screens as he got the defender he wanted for most of the first half, but I’m not sure what you can do when a player is having a game like that.
Purdue shot an incredible 63% from the field in the first half. Braden Smith, who didn’t get many assists in the loss to UCLA, finished the first half with 7 assists and eight points. He is becoming absolutely deadly with the midrange fadeaway in the lane. I’m not sure how you can stop it.
One more thing from the first half, rebounding really hurt the Boilermakers. They got outrebounded 16-10 but the most important part of that was that Illinois had 7 offensive rebounds to Purdue’s 1. On one possession late in the half Illinois got three offensive rebounds before finally hitting a deep three. It’s those types of possessions that can be backbreaking for an opponent. To that end, Illinois finished the half with 7 second chance points to a big fat goose egg for the Boilermakers. Despite this hot play from Wagler, Purdue was able to build a 10 point lead before two quick Illinois threes cut the lead to 43-39 and that’s where it stayed as the teams headed to the locker room for halftime.
With Purdue looking to start the half by pushing their lead back to double digits it was Illinois and their offensive rebounding that was the difference maker again. Illinois began the half with a 7-0 run including five second chance points that ultimately gave the Illini a 46-43 lead in the opening minutes of the half. Combine that with the 6-0 run to end the half and Illinois was on a 13-0 run. A CJ Cox jumper with just over 17 to play ultimately ended that run and it was not a moment too soon as you could feel it slipping. Purdue would put together a quick 6-0 run before the Mackey Arena crowd went dead silent as Braden Smith went up in the air, appeared to come down on an Illini foot, and had to come out of the game with an apparent ankle/foot injury. It would be just a couple minutes though before this happened:
Unfortunately for Purdue fans the second half was much of the same on two fronts, Wagler and rebounding. Purdue could maybe handle one of those things but not both. Purdue would lose the rebounding battle 33-19 while Wagler went off for 46 points. It didn’t matter who was guarding Wagler or what Purdue did, he was incredible. With their 13 offensive rebounds, Illinois grabbed 18 second chance points. Couple that with Illinois making their last five shots and it was an absolute disaster down the stretch for Purdue. Braden Smith did everything he could to keep Purdue in this one, finishing with 27 points and 12 assists, but it just wasn’t enough. Make no mistake, this Illinois team is damn good, but this loss, the second in a row for Purdue, spells trouble for their Big Ten title changes with Nebraska still sitting undefeated an Illinois, Michigan, and Michigan State looking incredibly strong. If Purdue can’t figure out their three point defense, Illinois finished 18-38, and rebounding where Purdue finished 33-19 it could be tough down the stretch against a top heavy Big Ten.
