Who'd Have Thought?

This year’s Purdue team is so…specific. They’re just not very versatile; they pretty much rely on Tre Williams to anchor the offense, Nojel Eastern to anchor the defense, and then everyone else is there to play their role, and hopefully that’s enough to get the win.

Often this season, it hasn’t been enough. Against Michigan, it was close to enough, but not quite…enough. There’s only so much you can do with one consistent guy on offense, no matter how good your defense is.

But this defense is pretty good, maybe even one of Painter’s best units, And despite Purdue being a not-great offensive team, when you’re defense is this good, you’ll at least have a shot in most games that maybe you wouldn’t otherwise if you just had an average offense.

Add in a little Mackey magic, and this team will apparently surprise us every once in a while. First surprise was the utter destruction of Virginia. The second surprise came today, when Purdue put a similar beating on a Michigan State team that has looked the part of a Championship contender.

Aaron Wheeler continues to struggle, yes (his 0-4 performance from behind the 3-point line was particularly brutal), but everyone else got more or less on track. Nojel went 4-5 from the field, including a nice jumper earlier on, and even hit a free throw. Tre Williams was his normal stellar self, pouring in a 16 and seven performance, often looking completely unstoppable against Michigan State’s front line. He even tossed three assists, showing off his excellent passing, especially for a big man. Oh, and today’s second leading scorer? Evan Boudreaux with 11, including three 3-pointers. Excellent performance for Boudreaux, given his struggles to really find his place on this team this year and last.

Purdue played a complete game today, against a top opponent, and was rewarded to the tune of a 29 point win. It was a great day for the Boilermakers, and a great win to score in the middle of a truly tough stretch.

So where does this team go from here? Up next is a formidable Maryland team, an Illinois team that embarrassed them not that long ago, a strong Wisconsin team, and then a much-improved Rutgers squad. Things aren’t going to get an easier. But, today was a good day, the win was a good one, and maybe there’s something to build on here. A blueprint for a more successful season than was thought possible a week ago.