Lost in the sports day yesterday was the Purdue Boilermakers absolute shutdown of the Michigan State Spartans in West Lafayette last night. (Pictured: Matt Painter signals touchdown, further confusing simple-minded analysts who keep referring to the football program as "basketball on grass" -- perhaps now they'll call the Boilers defensive basketball effort "football on hardwood." Wait, who am I kidding? Jay Bilas and Digger Phelps don't know Purdue exists.)
The Boilers only allowed twelve points in the second half of the game, outscoring the Spartans by 24 after a tied first half. For those of us used to seeing Purdue teams lose to well-coached teams (in both football and basketball), this win over a quality Tom Izzo squad from East Lansing is somewhat encouraging and when you consider the road win over the weekend, perhaps Coach Painter really does have this team hitting its stride at the right time.
The Boilers have six games remaining and currently stand at 16-8. If they can go 4-2 in the final three weeks and finish the regular season at 20-10, it seems hard to imagine them being shut out of the NCAA tournament but, you know, the Patriot League does need their entry.