Welcome from a soggy Mackey Arena this Wednesday evening. Jon Sicotte courtside for Penn State and Purdue. Log in, make comments and tell us how good the Boilers can do tonight. They are 10.5 point favorites against a Nittany Lion team that they lost to earlier this season.
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Expect a 3 guard, two post set to start the game. Robbie Hummel is in uniform, but that doesn't mean much since he has suited up for the last two games as well. Right now expect JJ, Calasan, Moore, KG and CK to start. Jackson and Marcus Green will sub in frequently.
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Players hit the court. CK has a new mask, more form-fitting, he also also switched to a black headband to secure it instead of gold...a possible good luck charm?
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Starting lineup: LewJack, E'Twaun, JuJuan Johnson, Chris Kramer and Keaton Grant.
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Good pace to start for the Boiler, leading 5-2 early, 5-5 now. JJ and LewJack almost connected for a Top 10 SC nominee...maybe next time. JJ looks toygh on the boards. He's playing with instensity and Purdue is now up 7-5.
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A three by KG and a first-possesion turnover, a good start...3-0 Purdue 18:36
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13:21 to go, tied at 9. Bobby Riddell makes his way into the game. Good to see the bench opening up for the guards. It may hurt the overall talent of the team for a few minutes, but it could help down the stretch.
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A great defensive stand, but once again, an offensive rebound by Penn State. Calasan takes another ill-advised 3-pointer, it goes in though. The big man likes the long ball. He's a 30.6 percent 3-point shooter, so it's scary when he lines one up...but 14-11 Boilers thanks to the shot. 11:47 left in the first.
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An ugly set of bad shots, but a good defensive stand before Calasan tried -- and failed -- on a 3-point attempt. Coach Painter talks about poor shot selection, I wonder who he is talking about?
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A turnover and sweet behind the back save by LewJack leads to a bucket by Smooge. PSU tried to take the momentum away, but Purdue effectivly gets it back. Down two (22-20, 5:41)
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4:13, 25-22 Boilers. Bobby Buckets comes up big. A defensive stop on one end, Purdue takes its time to set up a shot and Bobby Riddell makes a currently, game-changing three to take back the lead.
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Purdue will head to the half with a lead. It's been a rough and tumble Big-Ten first type of first half. The Boilers will have to take it a step better in the second half to win.
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The fans demand, he delivers. 17:15 35-28 Purdue, Bobby Buckets rains on the Lions.
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A 9-2 run to start the second half, 4:01 total. The shots from Riddell and Calasan have woken up the crowd. Not like that needs much to spark the Paint Crew. It's looking good right now. The defensive pressure could be stepped up a notch if they want to drive out the Lions.
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With that layup, Riddell is outscoring JJ in the game, 11-7. Just saying. Now his third trey in the corner...um, the Lafayette faithful are loving this. The Bobby Buckets chants are going during the timeout. (Note, 11 points is Riddell's career best, his former best was 10 against Chicago State on Dec. 6, 2005)
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A strong start blew the lead up to 18 points, but Penn State is still fighting, now 49-33 with 11:33 to go. The Boilers have stuck to the hard defense and the refs are letting them play, to the shagrin of the Boiler faithful, but that's Big Ten basketball.
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Key stat, PSU leader Talor Battle's line so far: 0-7 from the field (0-4 from 3) and five assists. That helps. JJ is a monster on the boards still, now couting at 11 with 12 points to lead the team.
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Mid-game grades:
Bench - B+ (Bobby Buckets has been electricfying, Nemmy is doing well (despite his three-point shooter delusions of granduer), Green has been ineffective for the most part.
JJ - 14 and 12, good line, he's been solid, he gets the A
LewJack - great on D, has been making good drives...a solid B+
KG - just seems to be there, but it's OK, because the rest of the cast is doing well...C+
CK - solid, does what he does, be a pest...A-
E-Twaun - making PSU watch him makes him valuable, he's shooting well....B+
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Taking stupid shots could be the downfall, they need to take 20 seconds to set up a shot at this point.
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3:34 to go, I didn't think this would be a "cover" game for the Boilers (for you gamblers out there), but that's all that is left to wonder in this game. Penn State, unless they come out of this TO on fire, will fall and the 2-game skid will be over. Great job by the Purdue bench in this one.
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4 comments:
Nice write-up...Buckets was a huge boost this evening; it's a good thing too- none of the other guards seemed to be too effective offensively.
Agreed. Bobby was great, he was the focal point of the post-game interviews and he talked about why he wanted to play for Purdue and not go to a DIII school like Wabash or Hanover.
LewJack held Battle to 0 points and was good on offense. Keaton was nonexestant and Green could be headed to the doghouse the way he no-showed. At least two seniors stepped up tonight, just not the two we thought.
Cool - Wish I would have caught this thread before the game. We need something like this!! I see all of these other teams' "in game blogs." Keep it up and draw some more people!!!
Great Job
Today was an experiment, I'll see if I can keep it up. I don't see why I couldn't...
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