WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue coach Matt Painter is standing at center court with a microphone in his hand and a lump in his throat. Senior day is hard on coaches, and Painter is surrounded by Eric Hunter, Trevion Williams and Sasha Stefanovic, the latest in a long line of Purdue players who stayed four years and just got better better better. Painter’s standing there after a 69-67 victory Saturday, a performance he senses has disappointed the crowd, even if the performance — even if the victory — has come against IU.
“I know you like the 25-point wins,” Painter is telling the sellout crowd at Mackey Arena, most of them still here to say goodbye to those three seniors and walk-on Jared Wulbrun. “But that was a good basketball team we played today.”
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The crowd has been smiling and clapping, but now they’re scowling. They’re actually booing. Painter is looking around, his dry sense of humor bubbling.
“You guys aren’t from the school of killing them with kindness,” he’s saying with a smile, and just like that the mood has been lightened.
And let’s be honest: The mood needs some lightening here at Purdue (25-6, 14-6), which has been playing its worst basketball of the season, this narrow victory against that unranked IU team giving the No. 9 Boilermakers a 4-3 record in their past seven games. Three of those four wins were unimpressive: margins of one, six and one point against Maryland, Northwestern and IU.
The Purdue fan base has been getting more uptight by the game, and I’m not saying the fan base is wrong. The Boilermakers are lurching toward the Big Ten tournament next week at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, and this game tacked on a few more reasons for concern. It had some positive signs, too, and we’re going to note those — we’re going to note it all — but first let’s say the obvious:
It could be worse, Purdue fans.
Look at IU.
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This is how sports work, right? The highly-ranked team wins, and your eyebrows go up, like: What’s wrong with No. 9 Purdue?
The unranked team loses, but you recognize that IU is deserving of a bid into the 2022 NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers beat Purdue earlier this season, they nearly beat them on Saturday at electric Mackey Arena, and they’ve found a point guard:
Xavier Johnson. Remember him?
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Johnson, who was everything wrong with IU earlier this season — according to social media, anyway — has been the Hoosiers’ best player for three weeks. Yes I realize Trayce Jackson-Davis plays for IU, but I’ve been watching the past few games, and Johnson has been carrying the Hoosiers (with help from Race Thompson and Jackson-Davis, when the mood strikes).
Johnson has averaged 21 points and 6.4 assists in the past five games, and posted a 16-and-12 double-double Saturday. Johnson, who added five rebounds and three steals, went into the final 2½ minutes with no turnovers, but couldn’t convert two difficult passes to Jackson-Davis in that stretch. Those turnovers, compounded by scoring from Purdue’s seniors — more on that in a minute — allowed the Boilermakers to escape with a victory after leading by 13 points in the first half, and by eight in the final 13 minutes.
But then Johnson and Miller Kopp went off for IU.
Kopp hit four 3-pointers, each bigger than the last, and Johnson scored or assisted on every point of two separate 9-0 runs in the second half. With Johnson playing like this, and Thompson averaging 14 points and 8 rebounds over the past 11 games, and with TJD capable of being the best player on the floor when he flips the switch, IU could win a game — maybe two — in the NCAA tournament.
But first, the Hoosiers (18-12, 9-11) have to go into the Big Ten tournament and win a game — maybe two — to get that chance.
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The Boilermakers know where they’re going after the Big Ten tournament: Right back to Indianapolis, one of eight pod sites. The just have no idea which Purdue team will show up.
Eric Hunter, Trevion Williams and Sasha Stefanovic save senior day!
If Eric Hunter has played a better game than this one Saturday, I’ve not seen it. And I’ve been watching him for four years, and even watched him score a career-high 20 points on Feb. 2 against Minnesota. Hunter was in the headline of the story I wrote that day, because he was the headliner. But he didn’t play like this at Minnesota, with 17 points and five rebounds and five assists against IU, the latter two tying his season-high.
Hunter has been shooting at a career level in league play, going 23-for-43 on 3-pointers (53.5%), the second-best mark from distance in conference play in the country. You want to read those last few words again?
Hunter played the game of his life on senior day, with his framed No. 2 jersey and family members waiting for the postgame ceremony, but Purdue’s other two scholarship seniors also came through.
Trevion Williams struggled earlier in the game (eight points, eight rebounds, three turnovers), but he dominated the final 2½ minutes with four points, a blocked shot and a steal. Stefanovic scored 15 points and went 3-for-6 on 3-pointers, passing Robbie Hummel for the No. 7 spot on the Purdue career list with 218 made 3-pointers. Hummel was sitting courtside, calling the game for ESPN.
“All three of them made significant plays,” Painter said of his seniors. “And Eric Hunter really made some nice plays.”
Purdue needed all of that on a day Jaden Ivey struggled with his shot (2-for-11 from the floor) and his composure, dribbling the ball off his foot three times and forcing crazy shots as Painter waved his arms like a condor, the body language saying over and over: Slow down slow down slow down. Ivey’s normal superstar running mate, 7-4 Zach Edey, had a fine line — 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks — but was 0-for-3 from the foul line, including the front end of two one-and-one attempts.
This was a mixed bag of a day, and not just for Edey and Williams. This was a day when some of the most recognizable names in the state were at Mackey Arena, drawing mixed results. The crowd loved the sight of former Purdue coach Gene Keady and current Gov. Eric Holcomb on the giant scoreboard, though the appearance of former Vice President Mike Pence drew a chorus of boos.
Purdue President Mitch Daniels was the third current or former governor in the crowd, but early in the first half Daniels was peeling off his pullover — he was wearing a Purdue T-shirt underneath— and going to midcourt to talk to the crowd.
“First,” he said, a message meant for two campuses, “a word of appreciation for the loudest, savviest and classiest fans in college basketball.”
Then Daniels was introducing two Purdue students, members of the Ukrainian Student Association, wearing green shirts with gold lettering: “Glory to Ukraine.” With Ukraine under attack by Russia, the crowd was supporting the Ukrainian students and the moment was powerful, and now Daniels is trotting around the court, firing T-shirts into the crowd.
It was early, but Eric Hunter was making shots and Purdue was pulling away and Mackey Arena was starting to enjoy itself. Then it was late and Xavier Johnson was hitting shots and IU was rallying and Mackey Arena was starting to murmur nervously. Order was restored in the final seconds, with Williams hitting two free throws and Johnson trying unsuccessfully to get fouled and Purdue avenging a loss earlier this season in Bloomington.
And then Matt Painter was on the microphone, about to introduce his seniors. But first he has some words of encouragement for the crowd. In theory, facing nothing but elimination games in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments from here on out, the Boilermakers could have just two games left.
In theory, I’m saying. Here’s what Matt Painter was saying, to a roar from the crowd:
“We have a lot of basketball still to play.”
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