By DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor CHICAGO – Purdue was supposed to be a dangerous team in the Big Ten Tournament. So much for that. The Boilermakers reverted back to tendencies they have shown throughout this disappointing season and were bounced by No. 10-seed Nebraska 57-55 in the opening round Thursday. Purdue couldn’t hit its outside shots, missed […]
Continue ReadingBy DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor CHICAGO ” The consensus among Big Ten coaches seems to be that if you’re looking for a dark horse in the Big Ten Tournament, look no further than Matt Painter’s Purdue Boilermakers. At just 15-16 on the season, Purdue has caught fire as of late, winning two out of […]
Continue ReadingBy DOUG GRIFFITHS ISL Assistant Editor How tough is the Big Ten? Well, Michigan, a Top 10 team all season long, doesn’t even get a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament, and four Big Ten teams enter the postseason ranked in the Top 10, Wolverines included. As we brace for the start of the […]
Continue ReadingBy SAM KLEMET ISL Correspondent Purdue is a different basketball team now that it was when it beat Nebraska 65-56 in January. Even though its record may not reflect improvement, the game film tells a different story. The Boilers are playing their best hoops of the season and should be heading into Thursday’s Big Ten […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor I combed through the record books for about half an hour on Tuesday evening and came to the conclusion that A.J. Hammons has just produced one of the best freshman seasons in Purdue history. It’s indisputable. Here are the numbers for the 7-foot, 280-pound center this season: 10.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor I skipped covering the Boilermakers on Saturday. See, I was busy watching my favorite 6-year-old point guard go 3-for-3 from the field in the first quarter of his YMCA game. I’m talking about my son, Elias. It was the final game of his season — trophy day — so I felt it […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — I said in my Purdue-Michigan preview that the game after the upset tells more about a team than the upset. The next game tells you if the team’s improvement was real or a mirage. Purdue’s follow-up to its win over Wisconsin was pretty strong. The Boilermakers […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor Whenever a team pulls off a major upset, more can often be learned from how it handles the next game than from the unexpected win. We’ll learn a lot about Purdue on Wednesday. The Boilermakers pulled off one of the biggest shockers of the college basketball season with their 69-56 win over […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Zeller-Hammons II resembled an old-school Mike Tyson fight. It was over before the pizza arrived. In every possible way, Indiana’s Cody Zeller dominated Purdue’s A.J. Hammons on Saturday afternoon. The Collision in Bloomington was an epic beatdown. I want my pay-per-view money back (Ok, I didn’t pay […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor If I’m an NBA scout, I’m foaming at the mouth to watch Zeller vs. Hammons II. The first matchup between the 7-footers was awesome, and was one of the few compelling things about Indiana’s 97-60 win over Purdue on Jan. 30. Within a complete massacre was one of the most […]
Continue ReadingBy SAM KLEMET ISL Correspondent Purdue’s eight-game win streak against Illinois ended with a thud. The Boilers were routed at Assembly Hall, 79-59 on Wednesday, for their fourth loss in five games. Illinois avenged its January 2 loss at Mackey Arena with a commanding effort. On a night when leading scored Brandon Paul scored just […]
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