It was ugly for most of the night. Purdue couldn't shoot the three...but kept taking them. Our Boilers didn't rebound well, until the closing minutes and played a listless brand of basketball in their B1G/ACC challenge contest, earlier tonight in God's Country.

How bad was it? Well, if you missed the first half, you missed a tickle fight. Purdue led 23-22 at the break in a forgettable half of basketball...not only for Purdue and Louisville, but for both conferences and all who made the mistake of watching.

It was painful. It was reminiscent of the Keady v. Bennett Purdue/Wisconsin games of the late 90s/early oughts. And it kinda stayed that way until five or six minutes into the second half.

Former Purdue recruit, current Louisville Freshman, Malik Williams got pissed off for no good reason and got in Vince Edwards face...minutes later, he tried to mix it up with Big Drago. Both of Purdue's players responded by hitting free throws and upping their intensity...but more importantly, maybe, it blew the dome off of Mackey.

The energy changed...Mathias started knocking down jumpers and Purdue started crashing the defensive glass, and Purdue nearly put it away around the midway point of the second half. But a pair of costly turnovers, and some poor, slow defense gave Louisville a few open looks, and the seven point deficit was erased in seconds.

From there, it was back and fourth...and it didn't feel safe until the closing minute. In fact, it felt a lot like the UT game or the WKU game (depending on your focus), just a week ago. Purdue's sense of urgency fell off a bit at times...and with Vince playing with four fouls, and being pulled for those fouls, it didn't feel great.

BUT, as we all know, a few plays make the difference...and the difference-makers in this one came on the wings of emotional lift. If I mention emotion, I'm contractually-obligated to mention Mr. Haarms. Dutch Thunder had a key block down the stretch to go along with three others. Keep in mind, The Cardinals only had just one block, as a team.

Mathias hit a three with under three minutes left; Purdue took a two point lead, and wouldn't lose the lead again. Purdue hit most of their free throws in the remaining minutes, but a curl drawn up by Painter for Vince Edwards might have been the play that nailed the tiny Cardinal coffin shut. Vincent finished with another quietly effective game- 15 points, 7 rebounds...but his three turnovers and getting into early foul trouble hurt his effectiveness.

Boogie struggled mightily from deep; he was 0-6, in fact. But his ability to push the pace and get deep into Louisville's zone was important. He hit 9 of his 11 free throws, added 2 more points from the floor, 2 assists and 2 steals. Outside of Edward's speed/energy, Purdue looked flat against Louisville's ill-gotten bluechips.

For the second-straight game, Purdue played a program with quite a few big time recruits, and a connection to the FBI that they didn't really want. In both games, Purdue won...these victories will be important in March.

Mathias started off slowly, much like he did versus Tennessee, but hit three three pointers in the second half. Like Boogie, he finished with 13 points...2 assists and 2 steals...but added a block as well.

I know Haas is the easiest guy for Purdue fans to get frustrated with; and I get it. I'll readily admit, he had a couple plays that were pretty tough to watch. BUT, his size and mere presence in the lane changed the game. He only scored 9 points...but the reason Louisville was in foul trouble was the greatest Purdue basketball player from Alabama, in the program's history.

I'm positive that without the Mackey advantage, Purdue wouldn't have walked away with the 66-57 win. When Purdue shoots the three this poorly (21.7%) AND gets outrebounded (40-42), all while the Seniors lead from behind...the odds of victory are long. Add in the fact that Louisville, in spite of the tumult within the program, is still star-studded, and you quickly realize the importance of this one.

Painter did. In fact, we saw two rare signs of a pulse from him- he got into it with an official and later gave a vigorous fist pump. Players need to see that instead of the Nervous Matty that shows up too often in close games.

Louisville wanted an ugly game...they got it. But Purdue got the victory.

Next up, The Forces of Good will travel to Maryland on Friday for a Jim Delaney, DC BT Tourney Classic. Nice work, Commish.