Imagine trying to explain this sentence to someone in 2010: in what was probably their first Christmas Day game ever (records from the first few years are kind of sketchy), Purdue played a conference game against fellow Big Ten opponent Maryland in front of an empty Mackey Arena due to the global pandemic, holding off the Terrapins 73-70 to keep pace with Rutgers, a half game behind Northwestern.

Yeah. Good luck with that.

can you check the lights while you’re up there, I think one of them might be out

It’s hard to properly evaluate teams this season, since there’s so much less interconference play, but it does seem so far that once again, Matt Painter’s managed to do a solid job in a tough situation. Losing a bit more experience coming into the season than expected would have been one thing; losing it in a season where you don’t get a full runup into conference play is something else. Painter’s always been one to use the entire non-conference schedule to tinker with lineups and minutes; this time, he got about half of it, squeezed into slightly more than two weeks, before being dumped into conference play, and the Good Guys still find themselves closer to the top than the bottom.

This is the kind of team he’s built: Sasha Stefanovic played 30 minutes and took one shot. (He added 5 boards, 3 assists and 1 steal.) The Boilers won anyway because Brandon Newman and Eric Hunter Jr. combined for 33 points, with Newman leading all scores at 17 and Hunter right behind him at 16, both ahead of all Maryland scorers (Donta Scott led the Terrapins with 15). Trevion Williams was his usual post self, nearly grabbing a double-double in just 16 minutes (10 points/8 boards), while Zach Edey continued to impress with a 6-point/7-board outing of his own, adding 2 blocks and just 1 foul in 18 minutes. Jaden Ivey added a career-high 11.

Although they never led, Maryland had their chances; Purdue built a 30-15 lead in the first half, kept it at 13 at the break, but the visitors chipped away until a Scott layup tied it at 70 with 58 seconds to play. They would not score again; Hunter’s layup gave the Good Guys the lead to stay, and Williams hit one of two from the line to set the final margin. The Terps did have one final shot, but an Eric Ayala three to tie was no good, and Hunter’s rebound put the game away.

Good things

Four players in double figures, eight players scoring. The better you can distribute your scoring, the safer you are, especially in a season like this one where players can be out for an extended period of time. Newman got his first kenpom MVP today; Stefanovic and Williams each have two, Edey has one.
Turnovers are slowly coming under control. After a stretch where Purdue’s turnover percentage was in the 20s five games of seven, it’s been under 16 in two of the last three, both wins. If you don’t draw fouls often and don’t create turnovers, you can’t afford to give away too many possessions.
Three-point shooting continues to be solid. The Boilers were basically identical inside and outside the arc (45.5% from three, 45.6% overall), which helps to make up for both the lack of fouls drawn and the poor FT shooting - Purdue sits at 69.8% for the season, which could be the first time Painter’s had consecutive teams under 70% since the four-season stretch from 2012-2015, which by no coincidence featured a total of one NCAA tournament win.
Free throw defense is not a thing! Especially in an empty Mackey. But Maryland did hurt their own cause, shooting just 47.6% from the line (10 for 21), including a 1-for-6 day from Darryl Morsell.

Bad things

It’s Christmas. No bad things today. If your holidays are either earlier or later, feel free to think of the bad things you saw today.

Ugly things

Christmas sweaters
14-team conferences
Traveling across 27 states during a pandemic to face a bottom-dwelling Rutgers team
I am informed that in fact New Jersey is not 27 states away, it just feels like it because Pennsylvania is about 900 miles from west to east, and also Rutgers is a top-20 kenpom team, so there, Big Ten fans, take that. They seem legit, too, as much as anyone can be in a season like this, and can we please make sure that Steve Pikiell gets some recognition this season? I was going to make some snarky comment about not giving an award to a coach who stopped taking responsibility for things about 10 years ago, but Izzo hasn’t won it since 2012, and who has more, Painter or Izzo? lol. That’s right. Anyway, Pikiell this season.
COVID
Rutgers’ FT percentage. 60.3%, which is 307th in DI. Only 330 teams have played games this year, with the Ivy and non-Armed Forces Patriot League sitting out, as well as a handful of others. Army is shooting 59.7% from the line. Wouldn’t you expect Army players to … not struggle with that? idek. Also, I know Purdue didn’t play Rutgers today. This is my list. Make your own list if you feel that strongly about it.

Next up

Pikiell’s Scarlet Knights, sitting at 6-1 overall with just a road loss to Ohio State. They beat Maryland by 14 about a week and a half ago … in College Park. Then they beat Illinois by 3. So … the Good Guys better make sure they have their A game, which is something we don’t usually say about a Rutgers game. Wisconsin’s unwatchable brand of hoops will likely win the conference, for whatever that means this year, but there will likely be a large pack of teams behind them, and games like this one will help sort out that pack.

Why are you still here? It’s Christmas! You should be partaking in family traditions, if this is a holiday of yours - you know, bet against the Knicks, pretend like you’re eating the gumdrop cake that was probably made in July, that sort of thing. Just watch out for icicles on the garage. They’ve been known to kill people.

Images courtesy of Purdue Athletics, they were up so fast they didn’t even mention which folks took them