Boilermaker Breakdown: A Week of Redemption

(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

I was on vacation last week and while I did have my computer and internet access, I did not really feel like skipping beach time to write Purdue basketball articles. Therefore, I’m just going to give an overview of the past five games.

Two weeks ago, Boiler fans were down in the dumps. Consecutive losses to Northwestern and Michigan State had dropped Purdue down to the third seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

The offense was stagnant, the defense had holes, and they were getting crushed on the glass.

I don’t know if they stopped playing hard once they knew they couldn’t win the Big Ten regular season title, were tired, or just not focused, but the Boilers were playing their worst ball during the last week of the regular season.

Between the second half of the regular season finale against Michigan State and the opening round of the Big Ten tournament, something changed in these Boilers.

They looked like they were out for blood. They were playing with a chip on their shoulder. They were proving their record was a result of unfortunate injuries, not overall ability.

For five games, the Purdue men’s basketball team turned a disappointing season into one Boilermaker fans will remember for ages.

Game One: Big Ten tournament quarterfinal vs. Penn State

No one really knew what to expect out of Purdue in this game after their prior week of play, but the Boilers made a statement that they were ready for the postseason.

Purdue jumped all over the Nittany Lions to start the game, a trend that would continue in the others. Purdue led by 20 with about five minutes to play in the first half.

The second half was a mere formality as the lead never got down to single digits.

Robbie Hummel showed he was back and healthy with a game high 20 points as the Boilers over 55 percent and committed only five turnovers.

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