Peaking at the right time
(look for E'Twaun Moore to blow it up in Ass Hall, Tuesday)

Purdue beats Northwestern by 15 points...and all I have to share with you this afternoon is the not-so-clever jingle "E-E-E-E'Twaun Moore". Why can't I give you my perspective of the game, you ask? Well, I looked past the Wildcats, plain and simple. They're a good team who can beat you on any given night, I didn't give 110%, I didn't bring my A-game, I wasn't taking it one game at a time, and I didn't keep my focus.

That said, Matt Painter's Boilers dug deep and played as a team...they played through adversity and made big shots when needed.

I'm filling this up with cliches, but what I should be saying is that E. Moore all but beat the Wildcats himself. He scored 16 in the first half, 12 in the second and did it while shooting 66% from the field and 80% from behind the arc. Keaton Grant gave an added boost with a couple of timely NBA-distance three pointers...Superman looked quite human with just nine points (the question now is, will he still be BT POW?)...and Scott Martin was back in the Boiler line-up coming off of an ankle injury. With the win, Purdue extended their winning streak to 12 and their road winning streak to 5; not bad for a bunch of guys that I thought would only be dancing in the NIT at the end of the season.

I was wrong in my prognostication, and I am so pleased about it. (Please note, Terry Hutchens, that's what one does when he makes out-of-line predictions.)

Let's all be honest for a moment- I wasn't the only one out there who had visions of Tuesday night dancing in my head, was I?

Thank goodness the people that matter did their job in preparation for their next game v. top-15 competition (they're currently on a four-game winning streak versus such teams). I'm looking forward to seeing how the Hoosiers fair later tonight v. MSU in their second-of-three contests at home (in a row, no less) versus the other leaders of the Big Ten (Thanks Jim!).

Get 'em Sparty!

I'm excited for Tuesday...just a bit more than I am for tonight's totally fantastic NBA 4-man dunk contest (let it die, already).