12/9/2024 Boilermaker Water Cooler Chat: Home is Where The Heart Is, Edition

Rants, ravings, and somewhat sensical opinions following the wild, wacky, and wide-wide world of Purdue sports.

With Thanksgiving in our recent rear view, I had an opportunity to give thanks and see many of my lovely family members. As a father of college students, it was nice to have the youngest come home and visit for the holiday. On Thursday, I drove north to my parents home, and everything was like old times. There is something nostalgic about home. Safe. Out there in the real world things get vicious, cruel, unrelenting. Sometimes you just need to head home, catch your breath, have a meal cooked by your mom, and soak it all in.

The Boilermakers, this week, saw how cruel life away from home can be. The mean streets of central Pennsylvania can be a frozen hellhole, I tell you what. Sometimes, when you slip on the icy ground and fall flat on your ass, you need to warm up with some chicken soup, a warm blanket, and some of mom’s home cooking.

Mackey Arena, the friendliest of confines, was just the warming nature that the Boilers needed. I needed it too. You see, I have a day job. I have a family. I have media obligations, and I live in the Region. Visiting my home away from home, Mackey Arena, doesn’t happen as frequently as Mom would like. Sunday, however, my rear end found press row, and I was finally back where I belong. Home sweet home.

The Games:

#8 Purdue 70; Penn State 81

An game not nearly as lose as the final score indicated, Purdue turned the ball over an unfathomable 24 times, leading to Penn State leading by 27 at one point in the second half. If it wasn’t for a merciful Nittany Lion ballclub, and some sharp late-game shooting by Purdue’s bench, the Boilermakers would have been much more thoroughly embarrassed.

Fletcher Loyer and TKR had 15 points each. CJ Cox had 12. Not much else is really worth talking about here. So yeah, burn the tape and bleach your eyes. Life on the road is tough sometimes.

Maryland 78; #8 Purdue 83

Boilers returned home to an excited Mackey Arena crowd, and despite poor shooting in the first half, surged in the second to take this game over. Maryland is a sneaky-good team this season, led by future lottery pick Freshman Derik Queen. Queen spent much of the game verbally and gesturally antagonizing the Paint Crew, he backed up his confidence with an incredible 26 points and 12 rebounds. However, pride cometh before the late game foibles eventually cost the you the game… or however it goes.

Braden Smith was everything we wanted him to be this game. 24 points and 10 assists led the way for the home squad. Bookending his performance was Trey Kaufman-Renn who scored 21 points with 8 rebounds, and Camden Heide who added 15 clutch points. Fletcher Loyer scored 12, drilling 3 threes. The best part? In the game following a 24 turnover performance at Penn State, The Boilermakers only surrendered 8. That’s just what momma ordered.

Purdue-Maryland Photo Gallery by Mark Elsner: https://iscpurdue.com/purdue-mens-basketball-vs-maryland-12-8-24/

Break It Down:

Home is where the heart is. Following an embarrassing performance at Penn State, Purdue righted the ship against a quality Maryland team.

Some Purdue fans might be a little panicked following the Penn State game. If it hasn’t become abundantly clear, this ain’t your daddy’s Big Ten anymore. Now a nation-wide league, and with free agency the transfer portal open, very little of value can be taken from years past. Penn State is a really good team that plays nasty, physical defense. Maryland is also a really good team that plays nasty, physical defense. Guess what, Marquette fits that bill. Oh, so does Texas A&M. Yep, Auburn too. Alabama. You get it.

Matt Painter, as he does, has provided the Boilermakers with particularly difficult non-conference slate. Purdue’s two first Big Ten opponents are more of the same. Uniquely, this schedule consists of several teams that play hyper-chaotic-defenses, which just so happens to be what Purdue tends to struggle against. Purdue is in the midst of a nasty stretch which will make them better in the end.

The good news is that this isn’t college football. Strength of schedule matters. Playing cupcakes doesn’t pay off. Now that the Boilermakers have started the (absurd) early portion of the conference slate, they are seeing more unique and difficult challenges. Will only help them out later.

What Went Well:

  • 18: TKR’s average scoring this week. He continues to be a consistent scorer for this squad.
  • 51.1% > 48.9%: Purdue actually had a higher FG% than Penn State did, despite the lopsided effort.
  • 66% Reduction: Purdue went from 24 turnovers against Penn State to 8 against Maryland. Shows that some things were addressed in the days between the two games.

Opportunities for Improvement:

  • 51.1% > 48.9%: Remember when I said that Purdue out shot Penn State but still got embarrassed? Yeah, 24 empty possessions due to turnovers will do that.
  • Finish: The Boilermakers have missed their share of dunks, layups, and bunnies this season. They are going to need to tighten these things up before the real meat of the Big Ten season starts, if they want to be a factor in the championship.
  • The Paint Crew: Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the Paint crew! They are absolutely the best student section in the land, and I adore them. I will, however, hold them to the standard that they deserve to be held to. There were several hundred open seats in the nose-bleeds for the Penn State game. I get it, its a noon start. You might’ve spent some time at Harry’s the night before and needed extra time to sleep it off. I am not judging your circumstance. However, if you are not going to make the game, give your tickets to one of the thousands of other students who couldn’t get them. Mackey Arena is an awe-inspiring venue, with the best student section in the world. Purdue is (as of the writing of this article) still a top 10 team. Still an A effort from the Paint Crew, but with a few hundred more butts in the seats, it would be an A+ effort.

Big Man on Campus:

Braden Smith showed us that he still is a force to be reckoned with. Braden rebounded from a less than stellar Penn State performance, to be every bit of the All-American that we know he can be against Maryland. His 20pt, 10ast performance marks him as the first Purdue player to achieve that threshold since 1988, when Troy Lewis accomplished the same thing.

That is some rare-air in Purdue lore!

One More Thing:

Purdue has hired Barry Odom as their 38th football coach. The former UNLV coach has a history of success at multiple stops, and hopefully can duplicate his success at Purdue. Read about Barry Odom’s hiring HERE.

A Look Ahead:

The (as of this writing) #8 Purdue team only plays one game this week. Saturday they take on (as of this writing) #22 Texas A&M in the first of two neutral site games in December. This game which is a noon tip will be played in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, a venue that the Boilermakers are very familiar with!

For more content like this follow @ISC_PU on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. For a deeper look into the mad mind of Ben Kolodzinski, follow him at @BRKolo on Twitter. WARNING: Viewer’s discretion is advised…

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