(Photo credit: Purdue Athletics)

In what was supposed to be Nojel Eastern’s triumphant return to Mackey Arena, Michigan came into West Lafayette ranking #7 and just one game removed from their first loss of the season. Purdue had won four in a row, with three of those four being on the road and two of those being against ranked (at the time) teams. After the Boilers’ win at Value Paint Can City Arenaolesium, this began to feel like it could be a sizable matchup with Purdue trailing the Wolverines by only 1 ½ in the crowded Big Ten standings.

Alas, we aren’t allowed to have nice things. Sasha Stefanovic was ruled out for 17 days and “at least the next three games” because of a positive COVID-19 test. I guess it depends on when that 17 days started, but by my math, 17 days from now covers three games in addition to tonight, meaning Michigan, Minn, MD, NW. Regardless, he’s out and this is a part of life in this COVID-influenced season.

I’m not sure when the team became aware of this (obviously, they could know things before the rest of us do) but it sure looked like they learned about it when the rest of us did and were rattled as a result. Now, it’s easy to point to Sash being out as the reason Purdue only scored 53 and looked kind of clunky on offense tonight. However, the truth is, Michigan is just damn good. I want to dislike Juwan Howard but thus far I’m having a hard time doing so.

And, sure, taking away the Sasha deep threat hurts and his 11 ppg is valued. But they still had their leading scorer (Tre at 15.4) and their FG% leader (the monstrous Zach Edey). It bore out early that Purdue would need to feed the big fellas down low endlessly and hope it worked as the shooting was icy cold like Aneesh’s hands after scraping his windshield during a Pittsburgh winter.

Let’s do a quick summary and get back to our Friday night brown liquors and whatnot.

What Went Well

You might think losing at home by 17 would make it hard to feel optimistic, but the recent surge by this team and the feeling that they’re growing up right before our eyes has extended them a bit of a credit line with the Purdue fanbase. Folks seemed to understand the Sasha news had an effect an many praised Purdue’s fight in this game. I kept thinking as I watched that if they had anyone who could get even hot for a little bit and reel off say 6-8 points (two treys and a dunk or somethin’), this would be a tight game. The defense played fine, honestly. Michigan got to 70 points but they’ve cleared 80 ten times and this was their third-lowest output of the season. If Purdue didn’t clunk along to 53 points, hey, who knows.

Tre had a tough time from the field (6/19) but still managed to put up a double-double, with 14 and 11.

Ivey also managed to get into double figures with 12, despite…

What Went Less Than Well

…going 3/14 from the floor and 0/5 from deep. But let’s not just focus on him – as noted, at least he contributed a dozen points. The team show a dismal 31% from the field and 17% from deep (2/12). Yikes. Not gonna win many games like that, especially when you’re Purdue.

What’s Next

The Boilers now have eight days off before playing Minnesota at home next Saturday evening. They won’t have Stefanovic that night, either, but a week of practice and preparation will undoubtedly have them looking better. Let’s also not forget that since two weeks ago tonight, Purdue has played five games and now weirdly will have more than a week off.

Tonight was a game to learn from and move along. They don’t have another shot at Michigan in the regular season, but you never know. Keep working.