IU Looks Backward, Purdue Moves Forward, and Wins Yet Again, in Ass. Hall

The last time Purdue lost to IU, Kendall Stephens and Jaquil Taylor were still wearing the black and gold, and both teams were ranked in the top-25 and the series was basically a coin flip. Things have changed since then.

Now, 1449 days have passed…and Purdue has officially taken ownership of Ass. Hall, AKA Purdue South. I’ll be honest with you- I have come to expect Purdue to win at Mackey Arena, even this season as Purdue has struggled. But winning at IU is still especially enjoyable for me…mostly because I grew up in the era when Keady and Knight locked horns. The Hall of Calls was a terrifying venue back then…and we had a reminder of that earlier this afternoon.

Knight decided to grace the Hoosier faithful with his presence as IU’s 1980 team celebrated their 40th anniversary of losing to Purdue in the NCAA tournament (yeah, that really happened). So Purdue helped them with their trip down memory lane by controlling the contest almost wire-to-wire.

IU had a lead early in the game, but it was never significant. When Wheeler started raining threes, a bit of a throwback to the go-go days of 2019, you could feel Purdue might rain all over Knight’s homecoming.

"What Rivalry?

This isn’t even a rivalry anymore.”

-Dick Vitale

Knight hadn’t returned to the awful place since his firing in 2000. In spite of multiple ADs and head coaches begging and pleading with him, he didn’t think IU fans deserved his presence. This afternoon, with his health slipping, he came back. Some IU fans said it was something they needed for healing. Now, perhaps they’ll stop looking back to the 80s every time they talk to Purdue fans? Nah.

If I was an IU fan, I wouldn’t want to live in the now either.

And speaking of the past, Vitale droned on the entire game of the former greatness of IU’s fanbase and their ex-head coach. The current guy has yet to beat Purdue…and all of their current students don’t even remember a world in which IU is an upper third of the B1G team, let alone a national title winner.

Times have changed. In this brave new world, Purdue has won four straight in Bloomington and nine of the last ten games versus their little brothers to the South.

Back to the future…

Purdue won 74-62, but it didn’t feel that close. Purdue sat on the ball in the closing three minutes as IU waited for Jelly to get the ball so they could start fouling. Eastern wasn’t having any of that…he hit most of his FTs (4/6) and kept Purdue’s lead in the double digits. Nojel finished with 8 points, 5 assists and 3 boards…and played another game in which he did all of the little things and helped the Purdue machine hum along.

Hunter led all of Purdue’s scorers (barely) with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals…rock solid. His backcourt pal, Sash, threw in 10 points and grabbed 4 boards.

Off of the bench, Aaron Wheeler shot the ball as well as he has all season. He hit all of his three point attempts and added another bucket just for giggles. He finished with 11 important points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and zero turnovers. Paint’s faith in Wheeler’s ability looks to be paying dividends. If this continues, Purdue might go from being a bubble team to getting into the dance easily. Yeah, Wheeler’s play is that much of a difference maker, especially on the road.

Boudreaux and Williams both played well, but didn’t really need to light the world ablaze. They combined for 11 points and just 8 boards…the same amount of rebounds that IU’s superb Freshman big man, Jackson-Davis, grabbed. He made a bad choice to go to IU…everybody makes mistakes, especially in their teens. He’ll be able to make it better by leaving that place this Spring.

The second most hated/loved man in the building, Matty Haarms played a good game off of the bench. He quietly scored 8 points…no drama during this visit to IU.

Purdue didn’t play their best game of the season…but they absolutely played their best road game of 2020. All of a sudden I have hope that this very squad, you know, the one that barely beat NU in Evanston a week ago, might be able to steal one more on the road.

Purdue improved to 14-10 and has their first winning streak since the Semi Final win of the Emerald Coast Classic. This game was important for this team’s psyche…It showed them that what Paint’s been selling actually works. And while the shooting of Hunter and Wheeler was super-important, like the Iowa game, Purdue’s ball movement created opportunities.

Is this offense finally taking shape?

It would seem so. Purdue followed up the thrashing of Iowa with a convincing road win over a former rival. That’s a big deal. Enjoy the spoils of the win, Boiler faithful.

Next up, The Forces of Good welcome the white-hot PSU Nittany Lions to the greatest venue in the universe on Tuesday evening.