WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Walking out of Mackey Arena, I didn’t feel too upset on Sunday night. Despite Purdue’s 87-77 victory over Northwestern, I felt that I had gotten to see a great basketball game in an even greater basketball venue. This complacency with Sunday’s result surprised me, and while it’s possible that my improved reaction could be an example of some sort of new found maturity, I think it’s more attributable to the way in which the game broke down.
When Purdue defeated Northwestern by two points at Welsh-Ryan Arena, I was angry, because I felt like the Wildcats had lost to a poor shooting, meek Boilermakers team. On Sunday, Purdue was anything but, turning the ball over just five times and draining shots from all over the field. For that reason, I could accept the loss. Whereas, Northwestern had lost the game in Evanston, I felt that Purdue won the game in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers were unbelievable on Sunday, playing really gritty defense in the first half, and then hitting a wild assortment of threes in the second half. Their ability to drain runners and floaters was also highly impressive. It seemed like time after time, Kelsey Barlow or Robbie Hummel would drive towards the hoop, pull up around the charity stripe and drain the shot. Those are very hard shots for a defense to stop, and to Purdue’s credit, it hit those shots nearly every single time.
Purdue essentially won by beating Northwestern at its own game. Typically, the Wildcats are the ones thriving off three-pointers, but as good as they were on Sunday, the Boilermakers were even better. Northwestern drained six of its 12 attempts from behind the arc in the second half Sunday, but Purdue converted on 7-of-11 attempts, and finished with one more three-pointer on the night. Whereas the Wildcats’ threes were often difficult shots, hoisted up from well behind the arc, the Boilermakers’ threes tended to be simple, non-contested shots. The one area in which I fault Northwestern is its defenders frequently got caught behind screens, allowing Purdue’s perimeter shooters to get open. There is no excuse for how open Robbie Hummel, Ryne Smith and D.J. Byrd were on some of their three-point attempts. They had all day to shoot, as the trio finished with 10 combined three-pointers. The Wildcats’ defense actually got better toward the end, but once you let a team get hot in its own gym, your ship is sunk, and that’s what happened to Northwestern. Purdue simply got on a roll from outside. It was ultimately two threes, one from Terone Johnson and one from Ryne Smith, that gave Purdue a six-point lead that would last for the duration of the contest. The Wildcats never again came within four points.
There actually was an exciting late rally, that almost made the late-game slew of fouls and three-point attempts worth watching. Of course, the reason one team starts fouling, and the fans stick around to watch, is that perhaps a miracle will happen, and a comeback will be initiated. Down 12 with 1:15 to go, the Wildcats almost made that miracle happen. With Purdue utterly incapable of making free throws, Shurna’s three with 53 seconds left drew Northwestern within seven, and a subsequent attempt rattled in and out of the rim. If that shot, taken from way back, had fallen in, the Boilermakers’ lead would have been cut to four with 43 seconds still on the clock. That was the last moment of doubt about the game’s outcome, and while it was an exciting flurry of shots from Shurna, the comeback was far-fetched to say the least.
The funny thing is John Shurna was able to replicate his astounding performance from a week ago at Assembly Hall, coming through with an astounding second half. After falling heavily under the radar in the opening stanza, Shurna was very active after the intermission, draining a number of shots from well behind the arc, and driving to the hoop with consistent success. Unfortunately, Drew Crawford was less successful, failing to finish on a number of spectacular drives, and that was really the story from Sunday night. All of those amazing reverse layups that capped off successful drives in Thursday’s win over Iowa failed to fall against Purdue. Dave Sobolewski, for example, who was so stellar on Thursday, failed to hit the rim on one ill-fated layup attempt.
Back to Crawford, though, he was a little bit scary on Sunday. He seemed a little bit too fired up all match, perhaps contributing to some of his misses around the basket, as well as his shenanigans after the whistle. After throwing an obvious elbow in the first half, Crawford nearly got into a fight with Kelsey Barlow, as several players clustered around the scrappy duo. I could have sworn Crawford had one hand clenched, and was thus very grateful when the referees stepped in. While the first technical foul on Crawford was inexcusable, as he never should have thrown that elbow or gotten into that ugly confrontation, I didn’t mind the second one. It was after Northwestern had essentially lost the game, Shurna’s late comeback aside. After a missed opporunity, Crawford slammed the ball against the ground, not incredibly hard, but enough to send the ball 10 feet in the air, and enough to draw the technical. While it resulted in his ejection, and could have been costly had the Wildcats’ comeback come a little bit further, I could understand his frustration, on a rough Sunday, and as someone who has slammed the ball down multiple times myself in pickup games, I didn’t mind his rage all that much. Controlling the fire will be key for Drew though, particularly if he wants to continue being a factor in the physical post.
Lack of depth also plagued the Wildcats. Although most concerns about Northwestern’s lack of bench players have circled on the effect that could have on player fatigue, the issue Sunday was with foul trouble. Crawford, Sobolewski, Nick Freundt and Davide Curletti all finished with four fouls, while Alex Marcotullio had to leave after picking up his fifth. While many of the fouls were picked up in garbage time, Marcotullio, Sobolewski and Crawford all had to suffer under the burden of foul trouble throughout, and that might have affected the way in which Northwestern played defense. If the Wildcats had an adequate bench, guys like Marcotullio wouldn’t have had to play with four personal fouls.
Also, a very odd fun fact for those of you who are weird like me. Take a look at D.J. Byrd of Purdue. Then, take a look at Ryne Smith of Purdue. Finally, try telling me that Marcotullio doesn’t look like a combination of the two. Very odd. Sadly, looks were the only area in which Marcotullio was able to compete with Smith and Byrd. The Boilermakers’ duo finished with 34 combined points to Marcotullio’s five, as the junior proved unable to match his three-point salvo from Northwestern’s win over Iowa.
The Wildcats also got out-rebounded by a margin of 40-28, with most of the damage occurring early on. Purdue quickly jumped out to a +10 advantage on the glass, and while Northwestern was able to stem the tide for much of the second half, a key offensive rebound or two once again bit it in the butt late. As good a rebounding threat as John Shurna is, he can’t do it on his own, and Northwestern’s continual troubles on the boards, due both to a lack of legitimate interior players and the mechanics of the 1-3-1 zone, will always make it hard on the Wildcats to come up with the win.
I was a little disappointed to see empty seats at Mackey Arena on Sunday. Don’t get me wrong, the stadium was 90 percent full, better than Welsh-Ryan Area on any given Sunday, but still, after seeing 8,000 fans at a Purdue women’s basketball game, I expected the place to be packed. I was also somewhat surprised by the hostility of the home Boilermakers fans. Dressed in my old Tyrell Sutton jersey, I received quite a few dirty looks, and tension seemed to follow me wherever I went, which I found kind of silly, considering Purdue fans fill up the upper decks of Welsh-Ryan Arena every time the two teams play. Also, I think it’s worth considering raising the ticket prices for kids below the age of 12, after enduring the shill cries of the young man behind me all game. Another note about Purdue fans, you wouldn’t believe it, but they have to be some of the biggest whiners around. They didn’t just moan at the controversial calls, such as when the referees missed an elbow thrown by Drew Crawford, they moaned at every single call that went Northwestern’s way the entire game. Even obvious out-of-bounds calls were booed viciously. The whole affair made me realize just how rough referees have it, and from this point on, I promise to avoid booing the referees, or at least, I’ll try my hardest. All these small complaints aside, Mackey Arena is a remarkable basketball venue, an old-fashioned gem, with a dome that greatly resembles Madison Square Garden. The place gets pretty loud at times, and with scoreboards situated at diagonal ends of the court, a scene straight out of the 1960s, as well as above the court, this has to rank among my favorite basketball stadiums.
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