Feature image from @Boilerball

What Happened?

Purdue beat Penn State 71-52 in a no-nonsense, very calm and easy win in its final road game of the season.

What a relief, to have an entirely stress-free Friday night.

Penn State came into the game, like most of the Big Ten, much better than their 8-12 record would suggest, ranked 35th in KenPom under the interim coach Jim Ferry. Purdue (#20 in KenPom) actually came in as a 1.5 point underdog, and…well let’s just say it was a pretty easy bet for me to make when I saw.

But PSU has talented at wings and guards and play a mean full court pressure defensively. With a weaker front line, Purdue was looking for Trevion Williams and just one of its shooters to have a big game.

Enter: Sasha Stefanovic and Jaden Ivey.

Purdue started inside, with Trevion having no trouble in the post against Penn State’s light frontcourt. That gave Purdue’s wings plenty of room to work, and while their defending wasn’t too well the offense was rolling early. Jaden’s 9 points and Sasha’s 11 points led Purdue to a 15 point halftime lead, with Purdue pulling away at the 6 minute mark.

A few quick second half turnovers cut Purdue’s lead into single digits, but, again, Jaden Ivey is a superhero. A Jaden steal, a made three, a pair of free throws, and suddenly Purdue was on its own 10-0 run and the game was effectively out of reach.

The lead would only grow, and for once there wasn’t a late-game heart attack or an ill-timed scoring drought to induce heart attacks in black-and-gold faithful. Purdue was entirely in control for the final 26 minutes of gameplay, and that was that. We should win like this more often.

It’s weird to think of 16 wins as a shoo-in for March Madness, but in this strange season that paired with 11 conference wins in one of the best years the Big Ten has ever seen is more than enough to guarantee a spot in the dance. Penn State on the road is another quad-1 win, and Purdue’s ticket should be stamped.

While expectations for the season undeniably rose once we saw how good this freshman class was, it’s worth reflecting on the fact that our preseason expectations were simply being on the right side of the Tourney bubble, and seeing just one of the freshman pop.

I think it’s safe to say, it’s been a great season so far. Time to finish out strong.

The Good

• Drama free games. Excitement is overrated. I like boring, clinical, well-earned wins. This team will be the Bama of basketball, is what I’m trying to say.

• Jaden Ivey’s casually athletic freak moments. The way he casually gathered and slammed this first-half dunk, jumping from a place it never occurred to me for a dunk, just shows that these next-level athlete dudes are absolutely nothing like us jabronis watching. 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals. Jaden is a superhero.

• Young Matt Painter pictures every time Steve Lavin calls a Purdue game. I enjoy it every time, along with Keady’s impossible hair.

• Eric Hunter’s defense. Switched between PSU leading scorer Myreon Jones, Myles Dread, and Jamari Wheeler, and put them all in the torture chamber. It’s been unexpected to see Hunter develop into this kind of a lockdown defender, and pairing that with his crafty unique midrange game and he gives Purdue a dimension nobody else brings.

• Sasha Stefanovic is back. This team is so much more potent when Marksman Sasha is drilling from deep. 16 points, 4-5 from three, constant nightmares for Penn State fans. With Sasha rolling, this team becomes a dangerous Tourney out.

• AARON WHEELER. I’ve been waiting so long to write a postgame and put Wheeler in The Good. Crashed the glass furiously all night, disrupted with his length on defense, hit a corner three and didn’t force any shots up. Loved what he gave today.

• Tre’s quiet confidence. He didn’t post huge numbers (11 points, 4-8 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 assists), but he was Purdue’s rock and facilitated a ton of the offensive actions tonight. I love nights like this, where he excels and Purdue dominates without relying on him putting up eye-popping numbers.

• Dominant rebounding against a relatively undersized PSU team. Purdue won the rebounding battle 38-24, which is always a good sign.

The Bad

• Rumors of Micah Shrewsberry as Penn State’s next head coach. He’s done wonders for Purdue’s offensive creativity this year, particularly noticeable during out-of-bounds plays, and would be a wonderful hire for any high-major school. But…no I don’t want to let him go just yet. Give Shrew just one more year with this bunch, with Tre and Sasha as seniors and a full year of experience under this talented freshman class’ collective belt, and woo buddy.

• The “ev-ery-bo-dy-clap-your-hands” chant, especially in an empty stadium, please all sports teams retire this forever.

The Ugly

• Love Brandon Newman and he will be a star at Purdue…but tonight wasn’t a great one for him. Looked a little off, and with Hunter/Sasha/Wheeler clicking saw his minutes dip tonight.

Another Reminder That Jaden Is A Superhero: