Iowa’s hot shooting nearly cost Purdue the game.
On yet another snowy night in West Lafayette, the Boilermaker faithful trudged through the wind and below freezing temperatures to see their favorite team in action this time against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
John Wooden Memorial Player of the Game (JMPOTG): Maybe not the one that jumps out at you, but CJ Cox had a great game that didn’t show up on the stat sheet. He’s been Purdue’s best defender for awhile and tonight was no exception. He was tasked with shutting down Bennett Stirtz and he did his job well. He wasn’t on him the whole game but when he was it was a defensive masterclass. He also was 4-4 from the line and 1-2 from deep and that three was at a crucial moment in the game. Honorable mention goes to Braden Smith who bailed Purdue out on a number of occasions in the second half.
The first half was highlighted by the hot shooting, and even hotter tempers, of these teams. The Hawkeyes shot 70% from three point range in the first half including three that got the home friendly roll despite the fact that they are in fact not playing at home. It was a frustrating half for the Boilers as they saw Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz get two early fouls and then seemingly be immune from being called. This was especially noticeable late in the first half when Braden Smith got by him and then Stirtz ran directly into Smith’s back but there was no call. Speaking of no calls, Iowa had 7 fouls with 11:03 left in the half but wouldn’t be called for another foul for almost 9 minutes of game action. They finally got called for their 8th one at 2:05 remaining. Frankly it was a very poorly officiated game. Perhaps most noticeable when TKR got called for a foul on the rebound but held onto the ball on the ground. Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras stood over him, bent down, and tried to rip the ball away. Well, TKR didn’t let go, Daniel Jacobsen stepped in to protect the team, and Gicarri Harris came in at the end. The officials went to the monitor and decided to make the most cowardly call of them all, a double technical on Harris and Folgueiras which ultimately made no difference. The Paint Crew would boo Folgueiras each time he touched the ball the ret of the game.
Overall, the first half saw Purdue struggle to find consistency on either side of the ball with Smith in particular having a tough 20 minutes. He was 0-2 from the floor with 4 assists and 2 turnovers. Purdue as a team had just four turnovers in the half, thats good, but allowing your opponent to shoot 70% from three will negate some of that positivity. Purdue outrebounded the Hawkeyes 16-12 in the first half but it wasn’t enough to send them into halftime with the lead as they trailed at half 34-31. The Iowa offense lived on some great three point shooting and some great ball movement and give and gos where Purdue was just about a half step short. If Purdue was going to come back in this one they would need a better half from Smith and TKR out on the floor after he spent much of the half on the bench due to foul trouble. The brightest spot for the Purdue offense in the first half might have been the back to back threes from Jack Benter who gave Purdue his own personal 6-0 run. The latter three electrified the Mackey Arena crowd as it was taken from about the edge of the Motion P.
Things looked dicey to start the second half as it looked like more of the same for the Purdue defense as they struggled to contain Iowa both from beyond the arc and on those give and gos. The Iowa lead ballooned to 9 points and Purdue fans began to get worried. However, Purdue would go on a 6-0 run including a wild tip in basket from Daniel Jacobsen to stay within striking distance. Purdue finally was able to lock in on defense and force Iowa into a series of turnovers. Between 11:20 and 9:22 Iowa turned the ball over four times. Braden Smith struggled in the first half but decided there was no chance he was letting the Boilermakers lose in the second half. He was 6-7 from the floor, scored points, had 4 assist, and 2 rebounds just in the second half.
Purdue finally took back the lead for good with 4:50 left in the game off a TKR free throw. It was still touch and go there for the final nearly five minutes as Iowa continued to shoot the ball well enough to keep them in the game. After shooting 70% from three in the first half, they shot just 5-15 for 33.3% in the second half. Overall they finished shooting 48% which is still 12% better than their season average and is beginning to become a disturbing trend for the Boilermakers as they’ve now allowed multiple opponents to shoot 10%+ better than their season average from three.
Purdue walks out of Mackey Arena a winner and 6-0 in conference play, but Matt Painter and staff can’t be happy with what they saw for the vast majority of this one. It was ugly. While we always say that every win is beautiful, and I still believe that, there is much to work on after this one. Gotta shore up the defense and the three point defense specifically.
More to come on this one.
Category: General Sports
