Starters: PJ Thompson, Carsen Edwards, Dakota Mathias, Caleb Swanigan, Isaac Haas

Finishers: PJ Thompson, Carsen Edwards, Dakota Mathias, Vince(nt) Edwards, Caleb Swanigan

Feature image from @joeabdella via @PurdueOnBTN.

 

What happened?

Our Purdue Boilermakers, in the year 2016, won a Crossroads Classic game in Indianapolis! Cats and dogs, getting along! Nobody fighting over politics during Thanksgiving! Cubs winning the World Series!

Somehow, Purdue overcame an awful first half and a 17-point deficit to beat a very good Notre Dame 86-81.

I’ll be glossing over some of the gameplay specifics here, as I’ll do another deep-dive video review coming out early next week (because woo boy was there a lot of material from this afternoon). What I will say, though, was that this game was a perfect microcosm of the 2016-2017 Boilermakers:

The first half featured some of the worst defense I’ve ever seen Purdue play, brief bright spots offensively but poor shooting that overshadowed anything semi-positive, and Biggie in foul trouble. The second half? Lights-out shooting surrounding a Vince-Biggie frontcourt, crisp passes, Carsen Edwards being a beautiful angel, and good-enough defense flustering ND on a big stage.

Like I said, we’ll go over more of the X’s and O’s later, but there were two massive takeaways from that fun afternoon:

First, let’s get the boring administrative stuff out of the way. Purdue finally notched a much-needed nonconference win that can be shown-off to the NCAA Tournament committee in March. Much of the evaluation of this season will rest on Purdue’s tournament success, and (like Boilerdowd has pointed out time and time again) it’s crucial for Purdue to bank some credit with the selection committee in November/December to lock up a top 4 seed. Tournament success is largely dependent on the matchups, and the road gets much easier as a top 4 seed. Purdue’s losses thus far have been against well-respected programs (and thus shouldn’t harm Purdue’s seed too much), but victories against Auburn and Arizona State weren’t anything more than routine. A neutral court, come-from-behind victory against ND (who, like Purdue, nearly upset Villanova at home) was exactly what the Boilers needed.

But more importantly, this win finally gave Purdue their first identity-defining victory in years. The only post-Baby Boilers era victories that come close were maybe Pittsburgh last season, or the BYU/Penn State overtime victories two seasons ago.

But this one was clearly different.

Purdue had never won at the Crossroads Classic, the premiere event showcasing Indiana collegiate basketball. Purdue had choked away two very winnable primetime games this year, with two extremely memorable first-round tournament collapses in the rear view mirror. Purdue basketball has been unbelievably inconsistent in high-profile games during the Hammons-Swanigan era, and after that disastrous first half I think most Purdue fans were bracing for the inevitable blowout Indy loss. Some key Matt Painter adjustments, fantastic contributions from the supporting cast, and Vince/Biggie leading the way wiped that pessimism out of everyone.

Purdue finally has a roster than can outscore anyone in the country, versatile enough to dominate both from the post and from beyond the arc. The absence of AJ Hammons and Rapheal Davis on defense allows players like Bonzie Colson (23 points on 11-21 shooting, 10 rebounds) and Matt Farrell (22 points on 8-15 shooting, 10 assists) to dominate, which obviously is slightly less than ideal. But the ability to craft lineups without Davis’ offensive liabilities, and without the low-post reliance Hammons demanded, enables Purdue to fire back from a 17 point deficit against one of the more impressive teams in the country.

This Purdue team is different. This Purdue team is never really out of a game. This Purdue team stays poised. This Purdue team has lineups that can log 30 minutes together without breaking a sweat. And, today, this Purdue team proved that very few teams have the firepower to withstand a lineup of PJ Thompson/Carsen Edwards/Dakota Mathias/Vince Edwards/Caleb Swanigan firing on all cylinders.

Let’s just hope this is the Purdue team that shows up during Big Ten season, and in March.

 

Player of the Game:

Caleb Swanigan, good lord. 26 points, 11-19 shooting, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Thems some All-American numbers, especially when (in the second half) he’s laughing while getting buckets as teams try to guard him in the post. When Biggie gets into “Get Right TF Outta The Way” mode in the post, life is incredible.

 

The game was over when…

Biggie blocked Bonzie Colson’s three with 15 seconds left, which would have cut Purdue’s lead to 1. Because he was a rebounding monster, Colson grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it to Farrell, but his missed three was rebounded by PJ and Purdue could ice the game from the free throw line.

 

I’ll have more detail on these in the Video Breakdown next week, but here are some Good/Bad/Ugly quick hits:

The Good:

• Matt Painter’s second half adjustments, which is a wonderful clause to type non-sarcastically. Painter’s decision to bench Haas, rotate Carsen Edwards on Farrell, and stick with Biggie through foul trouble proved to be the game-winning decisions.
• VINCE EDWARDS IS BACK. The 20 points on 7-12 shooting was wonderful, of course. But a lot of those points came from his 6 offensive rebounds, where he brought a Swanigan-esque amount of energy. Paired with 4 defensive rebounds, a crucial block, and a handful of hockey assists, Vince was the key Purdue needed to reach that next level. Vince finally showing up on a big stage was so much fun, and I hope he never goes away again.
• Biggie Swanigan, basically everywhere offensively. He’s Purdue’s best player, Purdue’s most ferocious rebounder, and Purdue’s steadying offensive force. Now, if he could only be a little bit of a rim protector…
• Carsen Edwards’ unstoppable energy on both ends of the floor. We all were hoping Carsen would step into a role, but none of us expected him to be this impactful right off the bat.
• All PJ Thompson does is rip hearts out with dagger three pointers and set up teammates (6 assists) while never making a mistake or turning the ball over. Prove to me PJ isn’t a robot, because his 4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio these past two years is inhuman.

The Bad:

• Isaac Haas’ post defense. More on that next week. Woah boy it’s not pretty.
• Playing one half like they just ate a wonderful five-course all-you-can-eat meal at a Brazilian Steakhouse in downtown Indy. They should, you know, stick with salads.
• Purdue’s inability to stay with a ball-dominant wing. We miss you, Chris Kramer and Ray Davis.
• Late game travels by Vince Edwards. Though he had a great game, those travels in the post are going to kill me.
• Dicky Vitale.

 

The Ugly:

• “Defense Lives Here”, even during the second half comeback. A lot of wing defense habits were ingrained with AJ being the Magic Eraser at the rim. Now…those habits are problematic. More to come.
• Dakota Mathias was good during Purdue’s second half run, but he was absolutely invisible during the first half. He finished with 5 points on 2-8 shooting and no three’s, which can’t happen too many times this season.
• Basil Smotherman’s energy is contagious, but some of his decisions with the ball are…let’s say…puzzling.

 

Moving Picture Thingy of the Night:

 

Tweet of the night: