Carrell: Purdue finds a way this time, holds off Maryland
By KEITH CARRELL
ISL Correspondent
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue survived a late scare from Maryland to hang on for an 83-79 win on Saturday.
It may have ended with fans on edge, seeing the team repeat the same flaws again in anticipation of another blown opportunity, but the Boilers were able to ride out the Terrapins’ surge to secure the victory over the top ten-ranked foe.
Purdue held a 10-point lead with fewer than four minutes remaining in the game when the all-too-familiar full court press was issued by Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon. Maryland’s players executed it brilliantly, and over the course of about 30 seconds, managed to shrink Purdue’s lead to three, with the Boilers coughing up turnover after turnover. By the time the game had gotten just inside of two minutes to play, the score was knotted up at 76, a 12-2 run by the Terrapins.
The way this season’s Purdue team has given up big lead after big lead, to the tune of not having back-to-back wins since January, really seems to come down to coaching and a lack of intestinal fortitude, a surprising concern given the leader Rapheal Davis is portrayed. The issue is similar to the recurring theme in the movie Major League II where Ishiro Tanaka is upset with the newfound passiveness of Pedro Cerrano and looks up a translation to tell Cerrano that he has no marbles. This Purdue team is too talented to allow opponents back into games that appear well in hand and must find their collective marbles to make any sort of run in the Big Ten or NCAA Tournaments, perhaps the narrow wins over Michigan State and Maryland are the first steps in that direction.
Here are the highlights, courtesy of the Big Ten Network:
In the postgame radio interview, Purdue head coach Matt Painter stated bluntly that the team was “timid” once Maryland began playing the suffocating press.
“I just thought our guys were passive once again,” Painter said. “We have to look at our goal and use our dribble. I think at the end, when those guys used their dribble and just attacked and went through it, we didn’t have any issues.”
The routine has gotten so debilitating and frustrating for the Purdue fans that almost all of the ones in Mackey collectively chanted “GO!” whenever a player got the ball in the backcourt with an opportunity to advance the ball himself. Eventually, with a page out of the Lewis Jackson playbook, P.J. Thompson was able to take the press on himself and dribble it into the frontcourt in order for Purdue to set up the offense and burn some clock.
“I thought, at the end, P.J. did a really good job and it really helped us when he was just able to go with it,” Painter said.
The resulting win definitely had Purdue’s coach in good spirits, though. At the end of the press conference when asked if there were any more questions, Painter quipped, “I want to talk about the press some more,” then grinned and continued, “just set up some tables.”
The game started out with a bang for Purdue as the crowd was amped up at least as much as any game this season. The team seemed to be able to splash any shot through the nets regardless of the quality of the shot selection, many of which were subpar, or get the offensive rebound for putbacks. The result of the hot start was a 22-8 lead.
But as with late in the second half, the Terrapins would not hide in their shells, and managed to come within 31-29. The 21-9 run was fueled primarily by Purdue turnovers (Sound familiar? It should.) and second chance points generally courtesy of Purdue guards not switching to box out A.J. Hammons’ man when Hammons moved to help with rim protection. Purdue eventually closed out the first half with a 44-39 lead thanks to Dakota Mathias hitting multiple midrange jumpers. Mathias scored nine of Purdue’s final eleven first half points.
“I’d say it’s the number one performance (of my career) so far. With a top ten team like that, to pull out that win, that makes it even more special,” Mathias said after the game.
Early in the second half, the teams traded buckets, and Purdue was able to sustain a marginal lead. The lead was down to six points with just under 14 minutes to play when Hammons knocked the ball away from Jake Layman and P.J. Thompson was able to find Vince Edwards for an authoritative alley-oop slam dunk in transition. The crowd-roaring dunk forced Maryland to take a time out and star guard Melo Trimble knocked down a triple on the ensuing possession.
As nerve-racking as the game was for fans, Maryland never led in the game and the contest was only tied for 51 seconds.
Purdue is running out of time to shore up its deficiencies and find ways to play complete games before tournament play starts, with only two contests remaining. The Boilers will travel to Nebraska on Tuesday prior to hosting Wisconsin for the regular season finale on Sunday.
Quick Hits:
Midway through the second half, Thompson appeared to tweak his foot, but was able to return and appeared uninhibited… Mathias netted 17 points (including 3 treys on 7-10 shooting), 4 assists, and a steal in 27 minutes and was 5 for 5 from the field in the first half… Hammons and Isaac Haas each picked up a pair of fouls with five minutes remaining in the opening half… Purdue had 15 turnovers by eight different players, nine in the second half, but did outrebound the Terps 41-22; Purdue had 19 boards on the offensive glass alone… The Boilers struggled from the charity stripe, sinking only 14 of their 20 attempts, but did nail their final 5… Davis and Diamond Stone were each issued a technical foul in the second half for a spirited altercation during a dead ball. … Kendall Stephens notched another DNP-CD and has played sparingly since returning to the team. Painter insists that it’s not a disciplinary action and that it’s just a “numbers game” regarding Stephens’ lack of playing time… The win today matches the season high home win mark of 16 (also accomplished in the 2006-‘07, ‘07-‘08, and ‘10-‘11 seasons) with one opportunity remaining.
