There were plenty of changes inside of Mackey Arena to start this new season of Purdue men’s basketball. Most noticeable are the new LED(?) lights that go up and down the handrails. They were in use during pre-game introductions, following free throw makes, and after three point shots. Free chicken is no longer the prize to win for opponent’s missed free throws instead it’s Mozzarella bites from Azipp Pizza (a top notch pizza place IMO). The video boards are either new or just have a new gold border.
Either way, they look good. Lilly has their name on the court now for an untold sum of money. But perhaps most importanty, Purdue has four new starters.
John Wooden Memorial Player of the Game (JWMPOTG): I have to give it to Daniel Jacobsen but I honestly shouldn’t give it to anyone from Purdue. What a mess this was.
It became apparent pretty early in this one that this Purdue team is still struggling to find itself, especially on offense. At the under 16 timeout it was just 2-2. When you los four starters you’ve got to assume that things might be a little tough to start the year and they certainly were tonight. Purdue could muster just 32 points in the first 20 minutes. Purdue was led by breakout star Daniel Jacobsen who had 11 points. Jacobsen is also taking over the spot of “Purdue player who gets the shit kicked out of him” each and every possession. But, with apparently 50 pounds of muscle added to him he’s been able to handle it, granted it’s only been two games. Some other standouts of the first half were Caden Pierce and his five rebounds. He is aggressive on the boards and is truly flying in for them on the defensive end of the floor. You have to love his effort. Then there’s one of my personal favorites who I feel is overlooked when discussing this team, Jack Benter who went 2-4 from three in the first half while the rest of the team went 2-9. Gotta say I don’t love that. I also don’t love that CJ Cox went into halftime with just one point after going 1-2 at the line. Cox is supposed to be the leader of this team and I’m not saying he needs to score 20 a game but he needs to be a consistent scoring threat for this team to meet its potential. What I did love though was the fact that Purdue committed just two turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
Not good or bad but just notable that in the first 20 minutes Raleigh Burgess was the backup five and Enzo Shahrvin did not enter the game. He did not impress in the Gonzaga game and apparently Burgess did enough to surpass him in the early rotation. I agree with the move, but if Enzo is going to be of any help to this team he’s got to get some game minutes against Purdue’s lesser opponents and Valpo is definitely a lesser opponent. As bad as Purdue shot from deep in the first half, reminder that they were 4-13, Valpo was just 1-11. Sort of unbelievable. Purdue headed into halftime up 32-20 in a game after an offensive performance that only a mother could love.
If you’re wondering about the vibe in the second half, just check out this image from the broadcast. It really sums it up.
Purdue played 30 minutes of basketball after halftime and it was ugly for 30 minutes of basketball. It’s really difficult to put into words how awful these final 30 minutes of basketball was. This Purdue team is in serious trouble if this is the kind of effort we can expect to see game in and game out. I’m not going to rehash the entirety of this second half but I just want to point out a few notable things.
- Omer Mayer didn’t play at all during the first halftime and only came in halfway through the second overtime after Antione West Jr. fouled out. Mayer was 1-11 from the floor in this one including a huge missed three in the second overtime after he got away with a blatant pushoff.
- Despite leading the team with 28 points Daniel Jacobsen did not seem to be a focus of the offense in either overtime for reasons that I cannot fully explain.
- Valpo made two threes at the buzzer in this one. The first sent the game into a second overtime and came after Purdue fouled up three, Valpo missed the first free throw, and Valpo got the rebound and hoisted a contested three. Sound familiar? The second game after Jacobsen tied the game with 4.4 seconds to go. Valpo moved slowly down the court and drained another three as time expired. Overall though Valpo shot terribly from deep. They were 7-27 it just so happened that they hit the two biggest of the night.
- The starting guards from Purdue simply have to be better. Combined Mayer, Cox, and Harris were 7-24. That’s simply unacceptable from your three best guards.
- Purdue never should have found themselves in this spot to begin if they could hit anyting from three. Combined they were 5-28. Not gonna win many games that way.
