What a disappointing finish to a season that had so much promise.
And I don’t say that because Purdue begane the season as the preseason No. 1 team in America. For a good portion of the season it played like it. It had one bad game agaisnt Iowa State, but in mid January the Boilers were 17-1, leading the Big Ten at 7-0, and we a couple of possessions away from closing out a big win at UCLA.
It is safe to day that, starting from the final media timeout in Pauley Pavilion. This has not been the same
Purdue team. Is this karmic payback for my proposed corrupt bargain of Indiana football winning a national title for Purdue winning one in basketball? Well, since Indiana won it all Purdue is 6-7 after that 17-1 start.
So yeah, it is not just going 23-8 after being the preseason No. 1. It’s going 23-8 by losing 7 of 13 after we had looked the part of a true national title contender until mid-January.
It is also troubling that Purdue closes the season with five home losses to the five toughest opponents that came into Mackey. It is bizarre, but this team felt like it had an anti-home court advantage. The defense was absolutely terrible in the five home losses. If it had been merely bad the Boiler probably beat Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan State at home, but today was more of hte same. Purdue was completely unable to defend the perimeter and Wisconsin hit 18 threes.
I had hoped that Wednesday night’s comeback at Northwestern would provide a spark for this team, but instead, it feels more broken than ever. Today the offense was not a problem, but the defense was terrible. Nick Boyd’s wild basket with 49 seconds left was a backbreaker, but Purdue doesn’t fall on the “fuck it, rim is out there somewhere” banked in desperation shot if it doesn’t give up 18 threes in the previous 39 minutes.
I know it feels picky to be disappointed in a team that went 23-8 and will still probably get a 3 or 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but let’s be brutally honest: This is not a good team defensively. During this 13 game stretch teams are shooting almost 10% better from three than they did in the first 18 games. And today is a point of comparison, too. Purdue easily handled this same Wisconsin team in Madison. Today they were without their starting center and they absolutely burned Purdue with the drive and kick game.
We entered the season No.1 in the country, rightfully so with four returning starters and two All-American. A No. 1 seed, Big Ten title, and long March run felt preordained. Instead, where’ nowhere near that.
This team has not been right since that UCLA loss. I don’t know what it is going to take to fix it, either. If I am right that it plays better away from Mackey Arena (11-3 on the road or at neutral venues vs. 12-5 at home) and against non-Big Ten teams we’re about to find out.
Honestly, that is the only thing that gives me confidence going forward.
We’ll find out starting Thursday in Chicago.
Other notes:
- The five losses at home this season is more than the four Purdue had in the previous three seasons with these seniors. Yes, two of those were the Edey years, but still. It’s tremendously disappointing that this team, which was supposed to be the best in school history, could not get it done at home.
- Purdue will play on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament in back-to-back seasons after going about a decade without playing on Thursday. Much like last year, a late January swoon extending into February was the difference. Last year Purdue was 11-2 before a two-point loss at Michigan. It then lost five of seven to close the regular season. It still recovered to make the Sweet 16 and push Houston to the brink once there, but for the second year in a row this team did not finis strong.
- Nine assists for Braden gets him to 1,029 going into the postseason. He is now one behind Ed Cota for third all time and nine behind Chris Corchiani for second. Because Purdue has to play on Thursday in Chciago it now could have four Big Ten Tournament games instead of the expected three, so there are a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 10 games left. I think, at minimum, he needs five more games. Can Purdue get that many?
- Purdue will be the six seed in the Big Ten Tournament if UCLA loses tonight and the seven seed if the Bruins win. I suppose the good news is that Purdue went 9-1 against the bottom half of the league, which is the team it would play in round one. The bad news is the Boilers have been terrible against the top of the league.
- As far as the NCAA seed, a loss in the first game in Chicago probably locks us into a 4 seed. A win might be enough to hold on to a 3, as there has been a lot of chaos around the country this week, but much of it is out of Purdue’s hands. Purdue also has head-to-head wins over Texas Tech, Nebraska, and Alabamaa who are four seeds battling to move up.
- Can Purdue make a run? Yes. I think this team can still make an Elite Eight and even a Final Four with a break or two, but it is not winning a championship. We basically have to hope teams miss from three and will go as far as those misses take us.
- Finally, I never thought I would be glad to see Purdue not play at home, but this was the worst year in Mackey in a long time, and it was made worse because we were preseason No. 1.
