By Paul Gotham

Setting: Reliant Stadium will be a buzz Friday night as Matt Painter’s No. 4 seed Purdue Boilermakers (29-5) clash with Mike Krzyzewski and his No.1 seed Duke Blue Devils (31-5).

Plot: Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast Conference collide with a trip to the South Regional Final on the line.

Sub-plot: Purdue has redefined themselves since the injury to Robbie Hummel.

Flashback: Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer scored 20 a piece as the Blue Devil downed the Boilermakers 76-60 as part of last year’s ACC/ Big Ten Challenge. Purdue holds a 4-2 edge in the all-time series. Grant Hill led Duke to a 69-60 triumph over Purdue in the 1994 Southeast Regional final.

This is Duke’s 34th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 25th trip to the Sweet 16.  Purdue has been a Dance participant 24 times. Eight times the Boilermakers have advanced to the Sweet 16.

Foreshadowing: Fifty-one former Blue Devils have made their way to the NBA. Fourteen of those alums currently dot NBA rosters: Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Elton Brand, Luol Deng, Chris Duhon, Mike Dunleavy, Gerald Henderson, Grant Hill, Dahntay Jones, Corey Maggette, Josh McRoberts, Shavlik Randolph, J.J. Redick, and Shelden Williams.

Thirty Boilermakers have earned paychecks in the Association. Former Boilermakers, Brian Cardinal, Carl Landry, and Brad Miller lace them up currently.

Conflict: In the regional quarter-finals Purdue held Texas A&M to 55 points after 40 minutes of play. The Boilermakers won the contest in overtime. Painter’s squad will need to equal that defensive effort against Duke, but it won’t be easy.

Duke averages over 77 points a game. The Blue Devil front court holds a +6 rebounding margin, including 14 and a half offensive rebounds a game. The emergence of Brian Zoubek and freshman Mason Plumlee gives Duke a well-rounded attack. Zoubek grabbed 13 rebounds to go with 14 points in Duke’s victory over California.

Make no mistake though, Purdue must slow down Duke’s big three: Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, and Kyle Singler. The trio combine for 53 points and 13 rebounds per game.

Scheyer scores 18 a game to go with an assist to turnover ratio of 2.9:1. If Duke holds a late lead, Scheyer is deadly from the line – 174-198 (87.9).

Singler has scored double figures in Duke’s last 21 games.

Smith averages 17. The junior guard mixes a long-range game (50-130 from behind the arc) with a quick first step that allows him to get into the paint.

Lance Thomas scores slightly below five a game and grabs 4.8 rebounds.

E’Twaun Moore scores 16 a game and JaJuan Johnson adds 15.  But offensive numbers won’t be the focus when the ball goes up. Keaton Grant, Chris Kramer, and Lewis Jackson will be counted on to slow the Blue Devil attack.

Purdue’s rebounding margin is a negative one. The Boilermakers can not afford to give Duke an advantage on the glass. Purdue’s opponents have hit 35 percent behind the arc. Duke finishes at a clip of 37.9 percent.

The Boilermakers have plenty of ground to cover. They will need to guard behind the arc and keep Duke off the boards.

Resolution: Purdue will not go down without a fight, but the Blue Devils have too much firepower. With Zoubek and Plumlee contributing in the paint, Duke will be too much to handle for Purdue.

Got any comments on the game? Post them here.

By Paul Gotham

That shook the bushes

Whew! What do you get when you mix four overtime games, with three double-digit seeds advancing to the Sweet 16, and 10 games decided by three points or less? Oh wait…I forgot to add in there -  11 different conferences represented in the Regional Semi-finals.

What do you get? The greatest show on earth, that’s what you get.

The NCAA Tournament, especially the first two rounds, never disappoints, and this past weekend might be the best in recent memory. I am still a little dazed from all the action. If someone can think of a better weekend from The Dance, please chime in.

Is it a verb or a noun?

After all the dust has settled, we have a new moniker. How will it be used? When a player hits a shot, that has everyone saying: “No, no…Yes!” Which one will it be? He did a “Farook?” Or, he “Farooked” them?

It really doesn’t matter. With one shot, Ali Farokhmanesh put himself into history. Yeah, it was his fourth trifecta of the night. Of course, he was 0-4 up to that point in the second half, but shooters shoot. And shoot is what “Farook” did. Clinging to a one-point lead and too much time on the clock, Farokhmanesh let it fly. It was great to hear the comments during the post-game press conference.  Adam Koch: “If you know Ali, you know that shot is going up.”  Head Coach Ben Jacobson: “Ali isn’t one for paying attention to time and score.”

A little confusing

Many have been touting the Panthers as the first Missouri Valley tournament champion to advance to the Sweet 16. If you are like me, you are scratching your head and thinking – what about Southern Illinois? Yeah, three years ago today the Salukis lost to Kansas, 61-58 in the Regional Semi-final. The difference is that Southern Illinois earned an at-large bid to the tournament.

It’s only been 31 years

Yes, we are getting ahead of ourselves, or better yet, I am getting ahead of myself, but it has been more than three decades since a representative from the Missouri Valley Conference and the Ivy League advanced to the Final Four. Penn and Indiana State punched tickets to Salt Lake City for the 1979 Final Four. I suppose it’s wishful thinking. Can you blame a guy for dreaming? We can count on a sea of red (that will clash with the orange seat backs) at the Carrier Dome this Thursday as Cornell (about a 90 minute drive from Syracuse) takes on the Kentucky Wildcats.

That sound you hear is tickets being scarfed up on Stub Hub and other ticket broker sites.

Bombs away

Speaking of Cornell, the Big Red represent a number of teams using the three-pointer to score 25 percent or more of their points. Cornell hit nine threes (27 points) to beat Temple, 78-65. The denizens of Ithaca followed with 24 of 87 points from long range against Wisconsin. Kansas State scored 33 of 84 beating BYU. The Wildcats opened the tourney scoring 21 of 82 from long range against North Texas.  St. Mary’s scored 24 of 80 and 21 of 75 this weekend. Northern Iowa had carbon copies with 27 of 69 points in both of their wins. For the weekend, Syracuse scored 66 of 166 from behind the arc.

Begs the question: Which is the cart and which is the horse? All of those teams have a scorer in the paint. Are opponents more concerned with points in the pain? Or points from long range?

Conference call

Conference        W                L                Pct.

Horizon                      2                0                   1.000

Ivy                               2                 0                  1.000

Miss Valley                2                 0                  1.000

Big Ten                          7                  2                   .777

Pac 10                             3                  1                   .750

West Coast                     3                   1                  .750

SEC                                     4                   2                 .667

Big 12                                  7                   5                .583

Big East                              6                    6                 .500

ACC                                      5                     5                .500

A10                                       2                     2                .500

Other conferences getting wins – Colonial, Mid-American, Ohio Valley, Southwestern Athletic, and the Mountain West.

Who would have thought the Big Ten would have the most teams remaining with three? The Big East lies somewhere between the “best conference by far” and “The Big Least.”

Matt Painter – coach of the weekend

Count me among the number who dismissed the Boilermakers. Did they show us? Purdue has way too much pride in that locker room to fold.  Matt Painter has his kids believing, and the Boilermakers will be a tough out. With Robbie Hummel on the sidelines, the scouting report has changed. Opponents will need to adjust…quickly.

Not so “mid” any more

Peter Thamel’s piece on New York Times brings up a topic I have considered for a while: the “mid-major” title might fall into the category of archaic. Jim Boeheim praised Cornell endlessly after the Orange won an early-season game against the Big Red, 88-73. A month and a half later, the eventual Ivy League champ had Kansas on the ropes at the Allen Fieldhouse. KU won 71-66. But the message was clear – The Big Red was not to be overlooked.

Cornell is not the only team that should NOT be a surprise. Butler has played UCLA, Minnesota, Northwestern, Clemson, Georgetown, and Ohio State to name a few. Anyone surprised by Xavier is just not paying attention. The Musketeers have made it to the Sweet 16 three years in a row.

Cornell pulled no punches. Neither did St. Mary’s or Xavier. They took their opponents’ best punch and stayed standing.

Call it what you want. Northern Iowa versus Kansas comes down to intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation. How many kids on the Northern Iowa stand a chance of making an NBA roster? Probably none. Where as many of the Jayhawks are evaluating their draft status. Kansas is a stepping stone to them. Northern Iowa kids are playing for the here and now. It’s a beautiful thing. Undoubtedly, the student-athletes in the MVC, Ivy, Horizon, etc. love the game of basketball. Why else would the put in the endless hours? One and done kids? Do they love the game? Or the status? Or the adulation? Or the pot o’ cash at the end of the rainbow?

Game of the weekend

Paring it down to ONE game could be fruitless, but the Maryland – Michigan State game was amazing. The Terrapins and Spartans exchanged leads FOUR times in the final :31. Four times! The last came at the horn. Greivis Vasquez put Maryland ahead 83-82 with seven ticks on the Timex to go. Without a timeout, the Spartans took the inbound and Draymond Green dished to Korie Lucious for the winner.

The Spartans go forward unsure of Kalin Lucas’s status.

Sympathy for Siena

Much has been made of the injuries of Robbie Hummel, Arinze Onuaku, and Lucas. Few know the Siena Saints had a hole in their lineup Friday. Clarence Jackson watched from the bench as Siena fell to Purdue 72-64. Jackson sprained his ankle during practice earlier in the week. He averages 13 points and two rebounds for Fran McCaffery’s crew. I had the chance to watch the Siena – Purdue tilt in a restaurant about four miles from the Albany campus. Great atmosphere indeed.

Got any college basketball splinters? Please, share them here.

Leading up to the 2009 NIT Season Tip Off on November 16th, Pickin’ Splinters will be counting down the top 25 of the college hardwood nation.

’08 – ’09 Results: 27 – 10 (11 – 7 Big Ten) Lost to UConn in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, 72 – 60.

Coach: Matt Painter 108 -55 (5 seasons)

Key Returners:

JaJuan Johnson – 13.4ppg, 5.6rpg

Robbie Hummel – 12.5ppg, 7.0rpg

Lewis Jackson – 5.9ppg, 2.5rpg

Chris Kramer – 5.2ppg, 2.9rpg

E’Twuan Moore – 13.8ppg, 4.6rpg

Notable Non-Conference Tilts: 12/1 vs. Wake Forest, 12/12 vs. Alabama, 1/1 vs. West Virginia

Stat of Identity: Purdue held opponents to 59.8 ppg last season – Washington St. led the country at 55.4.

By Paul Gotham

Any chance that Matt Painter still walks in the shadow of a legend has been removed. After taking over from long-time coach, Gene Keady, Painter looked overwhelmed early.  The Boilermakers limped through Painter’s inaugural ride winning just nine games. Since then Purdue has made three consecutive trips to NCAA Tournament including last year’s Sweet Sixteen appearance. Over the last two seasons, the Painter-led Boilermakers have won more contests than any Purdue team. The only thing separating the Boilermakers from a trip to last year’s Final Four might have been a healthy back for Robbie Hummel.

Hummel returned. His back is healthy. The entire starting five from a year ago are ready for an historic run for the Boilermakers.

In a Big Ten Conference where points are hard to come by the Boilermakers let it fly. Purdue took 704 attempts from behind the three-point last year – 100 more than their opponents. Painter has confidence in Hummel(59-155), Grant Keaton(61-175), and E’Twaun Moore(56-166) all hit more than 50 trifectas. That number will only increase with experience.

Moore dished 111 assists in 08 – 09 campaign. Second on the team to Lewis Jackson with 118.

Purdue will continue to open up the floor. The ride through the Big Ten will be no less rocky than in years past. But these Boilermakers are ready for the tussle.