With football recruiting winding down for a while, I really have nothing to write about. Have no fear, however, because I came up with a BRILLIANT idea. Although the title isn't so hot, the concept is. I will begin a series of posts, once a week, where I look back at an exciting or controversial game Purdue has played in the last 4 or 5 years. This will allow us to look back at some key games in the recent years of Purdue athletics and it gives me something to do.
To start off, I went back to the far off year of 2008. Purdue basketball was looking to build on a successful prior season and they found themselves in the NIT Season Tip-Off Finals facing off with Oklahoma. That's where things got controversial.
I re-stumbled upon this game two days ago while at work. The last 6 minutes of the game were on Youtube, so I decided to torture myself by watching it. Purdue came ranked at number 9 while Oklahoma was 13. The Hummel/Johnson/Moore trio were just sophomores. Oklahoma boasted Blake Griffin and freshman stud WIllie Warren. It was set up to be a great game.
Don't get me wrong, it was a great game. Close fought with both teams playing hard. Oklahoma had the balance, with five guys in double figures. JaJuan Johnson struggled but Purdue got a huge contribution from Nemanja Calasan off the bench. Calasan scored 20 points on 9 of 15 shooting. He also only took 3 threes!! Too bad that production never showed up consistently.
The game ended up going to overtime. This is where it got ugly. The officiating was suspect most of the game and it didn't change in overtime. Chris Kramer started the OT period by shooting Purdue's fourth and fifth free throws. After that, it was all Oklahoma at the line. Seriously, the free throw discrepancy was a crime. Oklahoma shot 46 free throws to our FIVE. FIVE! And you wondered where the outrage came from.
However, that wasn't the worst call of the game. Oklahoma was up 1 when Smooge turned it over. No matter, we are Purdue. We force turnovers and got the ball right back. Oh wait, no we didn't. An inadvertent whistle was the call. Oklahoma kept the ball and I nearly suffered an aneurism. Oklahoma managed to hold on to win 88-82. This game left a bitter taste in my mouth for a long time.
How does this apply to Purdue history? Well, it was controversial. Oklahoma was also one of two marquee non-conference opponents we played that year. We played Duke next in Mackey and got thumped. Could have a win against Oklahoma changed the outcome of the Duke game? Probably not. Remember, this team was still quite young. It was frustrating at the time, however.
And this concludes Purdue History Lesson numero uno. Trust me, if you have a better name, please let me know. Look for a new addition next week. In related news, I am open to suggestions. If you have a Purdue football or basketball game that you want me to take a look at, please leave it in the comments. Try to keep it 2007 or after. I leave with you the full overtime period from this interesting game.
Nov. 28 - Oklahoma v. Purdue - (2 of 2) - Last 6 Minutes (via Blarghman1)