Wheeler Shines in 62-60 Win Over Maryland
By KEITH CARRELL
@BoilerColts
ISL Purdue Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Big Ten basketball in Mackey Arena, not much can be an atmosphere like it. Walking into the arena, there was a palpable buzz among the fans; but something was different, the buzz wasn’t about basketball. Fans were lining up in the concourse before the game to take their picture with the Old Oaken Bucket that the Purdue football team secured by defeating Indiana for the second straight season. Another line was forming around a table with a slew of basketball posters, but most were clamoring for the limited edition Music City Bowl poster being handed out by a couple of students frantically, and cheerfully, trying to roll and band the posters.
Numerous fans were talking about their plans to take the five-hour journey to Nashville in a few weeks to watch the football team, Jeff Brohm’s Purdue football team, take on Auburn. It was nearly disorienting; this was Purdue’s campus, but this certainly wasn’t Ross-Ade Stadium; this, this was Mackey Arena.
It’s hard to fault Purdue fans after the basketball team had dropped back-to-back games (and three of their previous four) in the midst of a daunting schedule that began with trips to Florida State and Michigan, before hosting the Terrapins Thursday night, and trips to Texas and then Indianapolis (Notre Dame) on the horizon. That shaky start to potentially the toughest stretch of the entire season paired with endless good news boiling over from the football program (defeating Indiana to become bowl eligible, keeping the Bucket, preventing Indiana from bowl eligibility, retaining Brohm who could have left for his alma mater, and earning a trip to a better-than-anticipated bowl) had fans abuzz and rightfully so. I couldn’t help but think this must be how it feels to be in Memorial Stadium at Indiana when basketball season is about to tip off. But this is Mackey Arena and there was a basketball game to be played on Keady Court.
The Boilers came out swinging and set the tone early against, head coach, Mark Turgeon’s young squad (of the eight primary rotation players, five are freshmen) with traditional Painter lock-down defense. The level of intensity pouring out from this Purdue team was far superior to anything they had displayed this year and that quickly got the Mackey faithful locked in as well. Maryland was scoring, but they had to work for it, with Purdue rotating seamlessly, showing a level of confidence and trust that they knew and felt where their teammates would be. Weak side defenders were crashing down to double Bruno Fernando whenever he got a touch down low and Maryland was forced to outlet for jumpers – jumpers they made. In three-and-a-half minutes, Nojel Eastern had a steal and fast break, Matt Haarms had a block and was fouled on a fast break and Purdue was out to an 8-5 lead. Then Eastern subbed out for Eric Hunter who put a lot of effort in, but was no match for Anthony Cowan. Purdue’s defensive intensity waned, and Maryland reeled off a quick five points. Purdue head coach, Matt Painter motioned to get Eastern back in the game, but the momentum had already shifted; in total, Maryland used a ten-to-zero run to grab an 18-10 lead seven minutes into the game.
Enter redshirt freshman, Aaron Wheeler who has had flashes of greatness this season, but hadn’t quite formed a complete game yet in his young career. Wheeler stemmed the tide by slamming home a putback off a missed layup from Carsen Edwards. Ricky Lindo, Jr. answered for Maryland with a three, but Wheeler wasn’t done. Neither team scored for three minutes until Wheeler drilled a three. Matt Haarms chipped to narrow the deficit to three and Wheeler blocked Aaron Wiggins’ attempt on the ensuing possession to give the Boilers a chance to tie the game, but the turnover bug was roaming and bit hard and often Thursday night.
🎥 Highlights from tonight’s 62-60 win over Maryland. #BoilerUp 🚂 pic.twitter.com/gDbTEAlmuL
— Purdue Men’s Basketball (@BoilerBall) December 7, 2018
With eight minutes remaining in the first half, Maryland held onto a 19-15 advantage and looking at the box score a glaring omission began to pop out – Edwards had not yet scored. Edwards must have noticed too, because he immediately sank a three on the first possession out of the timeout and soon after was fouled by Cowan when attempting another three. Edwards hit all three free throws to knot the game at 21 with 6:40 remaining in the first half, but Maryland would do just enough to keep Purdue from retaking the lead as they built a 34-27 lead. Wheeler found the bottom of the net from distance as time expired on the opening half, closing the deficit to four.
The first seven minutes of the second half was a rinse-and-repeat of Purdue getting themselves into position to retake the lead and then finding a way (via poorly executed offense, turnovers, or allowing fast breaks and second chance opportunities for Maryland) to not quite get over the hump and the Terrapins clung to a 46-45 lead. Neither team scored for the next two minutes as they traded turnovers, solid defense, and poor shot selection until Ryan Cline found Wheeler (seeing a theme yet?) in the paint for layup to give Purdue its first lead in just over 24 minutes of action.
Wiggins and Cowan sank threes sandwiching a pair of free throws from Edwards to restore a three point lead for Maryland, but there was Wheeler again to bury another triple to tie the game at 52. Cowan responded with a jumper then Edwards hit a three and dished to Wheeler on a fast break (which Wheeler kicked off by stealing the ball) to vault Purdue ahead three points.
“His ability to come off the bench and make three threes and just give us that punch…it was obviously a great game for him.” – Painter on Wheeler’s impact on the game
Maryland’s Jalen Smith made the game’s final field goal at the 4:20 mark before a defensive masterpiece was paired with offensive offense. So miserable were the offenses that neither team scored, period, for over four minutes as the game remained a 59-56 Purdue advantage. That same stifling defense from the first half reemerged in the final minutes for a Boiler squad intent on preventing Maryland from getting into anything that resembled an offense.
Haarms fouled Darryl Morsell on a fast break with 18 seconds remaining to send Morsell to the line where he split the pair. With the clock working against Maryland, Cowan fouled Grady Eifert on the inbounds and Eifert sank the front end of the one-and-one, but missed the second. With Purdue grasping onto a three point lead, Painter opted to employ the fouling strategy and sent Cowan to the line where he sank both free throws, seven seconds left. Morsell fouled Edwards on the inbounds who made both to extend the Purdue lead to three. Again Painter employed the foul-when-up-three strategy; a strategy that nearly backfired as Cowan was a split-second away from being in a shooting motion near mid-court, but the referee signaled a foul on the floor, awarding two free throws. Cowan returned to the line with four seconds left; he sank the first and intentionally missed the second which bounced off a couple of players before landing out of bounds, Maryland ball. Painter called a timeout to set up his defense with only a couple of ticks left on the clock. Cowan attempted a three, but Eastern blocked the shot securing the win for the Boilers, 62-60.
Defense was king in this contest as Maryland committed 17 turnovers, slightly worse than Purdue’s 16. The teams combined for 15 steals and twelve blocked shots. The Terrapins entered the game having made over half of their field goal attempts and as one of the premier teams at scoring in the paint (60.1% from inside the arc entering the game against Purdue, good for seventh best in the nation), but were held to 35% from the field (20-57, 9-27 from three). Purdue was also slightly down from their season averages having connected on 40% of their shots (20-50, 9-26). The Boilers did an exceptional job against Cowan (4-17, 2-10) and Fernando (3-7, 1-1) who often score with ease. Purdue forced turnovers at critical points in the game as Sasha Stefanovic sparked a fire with a pair of steals in the second half and the Boilers played their most team-oriented defense of the season, forcing three shot clock violations. “It felt like they had six guys out there; they were everywhere,” an exasperated Turgeon said after the game.
These past few games of the season have seen Edwards try to do too much to carry the team, not enough offense from the bench, and poor team defense for long stretches. The majority of that was fixed at least for this one game against a young, but talented Maryland squad and it just leaves the question… will Painter and the basketball team build on this victory to give the fans something else to talk about or will the buzz from West Lafayette stay largely focused on Brohm and the football team?
Next up:
Away: Texas on Sunday, 12/9 (6 pm, ESPN 2)
Away: Notre Dame (in Indianapolis) on Saturday, 12/15 (1:30 pm, CBS)
Home: Ohio on Thursday, 12/20 (7 pm, BTN)
Quick Hits:
The win moves Purdue to 1-1 in the Big Ten, 6-3 overall, and their first win over a ranked team this season… Maryland entered the game having outrebounded every opponent this season and did the same to Purdue securing ten more boards (39-29)… Edwards struggled from the field (4-15, 3-9), but made all nine free throw attempts… Cline also struggled (1-7, 0-6), but was active on both ends as he went 2-2 from the line, added four assists, and three rebounds… Wheeler finished the game with an efficient 15 points, 6-7 (3-4) from the field; he also added three boards, two blocks, and a steal… Radio play by play announcer Larry Clisby returned to action after missing the past couple of games with health issues… 21 NBA teams were in attendance to scout the plethora of talent on the floor in an anticipated slugfest… Edwards’ 20 points were just enough to keep his streak of scoring at least 19 in every game this season alive and his three assists saw his career total surpass 200… This was Purdue’s fifth straight win against Maryland, holding a series lead of 5-2… Eastern briefly left the game early in the second half after getting banged up on a loose ball, but reentered the contest and appeared to be fine.
