I was fortunate enough to be in Indianapolis for day two of the Big Ten tournament. A fantastic day of basketball. Back-to-back-to-back-to-back games that culminated with back-and-forth affair that wasn’t decided until the game’s final minute.
So, without any further ado, that day that was.
three-point lead into the locker room.
Despite being it being just a one-possession game at the break, you got the sense that the tide was turning in the Illini’s favor. When the second have got underway, that sense was confirmed.
Illinois started the second half with the same frenetic energy in which finished the first half and quickly built a double-digit lead. And then a funny thing happened. When Iowa stopped guarding the three-point line with as much verve as it did in the first half, the Illini began converting their open looks from beyond the arc. A team that connected on just 31% of its three-point attempts on the season connected on 46% of its three-point attempts against Iowa – including a blistering 54% in the second half.
And it wasn’t just one player that got hot. Illinois got strong performances from Kylan Boswell (24 points on 65% shooting), Tre White (22 points on 71% shooting), Will Riley (21 points on 64% shooting) and Tomislav Ivisic (19 points on 56% shooting).
But as was the theme of the day, Iowa didn’t go away. The Hawkeyes kept firing – and connecting – fighting to keep pace with the Illini. Forgoing the mid-range jumpers for three-pointers, the Hawkeyes matched the Illini shot-for-shot.
The teams’ final stats were eerily similar. Iowa shot 55% from the floor, Illinois 54%. Each team shot 46% from three. Illinois scored 17 second-chance points to Iowa’s nine. Iowa scored 17 points off turnovers to Illinois’s nine. The difference in the game? Illinois outscored the Hawkeyes 24-5 from the free throw line.
In defeat, Iowa’s Peyton Sanford had one of the best performances of the day, leading all scorers with 30 points, while connecting on 8 of 13 threes. But much as the day’s first two game played out, Sanford and the Hawkeyes spent the second half swimming upstream, and could never quite catch their higher seeded opponent.
And after prevailing in the highest scoring game in Big Ten tournament history, the high-flying Illini advance to play Friday.
Purdue 76 – USC 71
Much in the way that Oregon’s Nate Bittle is able to impact the game without scoring, so to is newly minted Big Ten Player of the Year Braden Smith.
Smith finished the Purdue/USC game with the less-than-eye-popping stat line of 12 points and nine assists, but to judge Smith on his stats alone would be to minimize his impact on the game. Always in control, always directing the offense (and the defense), Smith controlled the action throughout.
“With him,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said of Smith, “I don’t look at it like you need to score 30 points, you don’t need to get 20 assists to win. Just play the game and have fun and let it organically happen. He’s that talented and that good that he can affect the game if he doesn’t score.”
USC guarded Smith aggressively. Didn’t allow him much space to shoot. Didn’t allow him many open lanes to drive to the basket. “They were playing more in a drop (coverage), Painter said of USC’s defensive strategy against Smith and the Boilermakers. “They were up on the line. They were aggressive with it. They dragged him out a little bit.”
Rather than pressing, Smith found his teammates. “Get the ball out of your hands (in that situation),” Painter continued, “Get it to TK (Tyler Kaufmann-Renn) in the short roll, get him as a diver, get the ball behind you, skip it opposite, but get it out of your hands and let’s get them in a rotation and get them playing from behind.”
Smith did all of that, but he mostly got the ball to Kaufman-Renn. And the 6’9” junior made the most of his opportunities. Kaufmann-Renn was nearly unstoppable inside, finishing the game with a game-high 30 points to go with seven rebounds in less than 30 minutes of playing time.
But Purdue needed more than its big man to prevail against a USC team that was up to the task. Enter sophomore Camden Heide.
Heide flew somewhat under the radar this season, averaging just over four points and three rebounds a game. Against USC, however, made his presence felt, particularly on the glass, where he grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Kaufmann-Redd was asked about Heide’s play and the energy he brought. “It’s the difference (in the game), really. He led all players in rebounding. Just playing hard, man, giving that effort that we needed. To have somebody really step it up, give us it all, defend and rebound, that’s what we needed.”
It was needed because USC played valiantly, matching Purdue basket for basket. Rebound for rebound. Physical play for physical play.
“I thought our team did everything we could to put ourselves in position to win the game,” USC head coach Eric Musselman said after the game. And he was right. A day after turning back Rutgers in double-overtime, USC gave Purdue everything it could handle.
Led by Kaufmann-Redd, Purdue is one the more physical teams in the Big Ten. USC matched the Boilermakers’ physicality. The also relentlessly attacked the rim.
“USC was very resilient. Tough covers. They have good players.” Painter said. “Their ability to break you down off the dribble and make plays is difficult to guard.”
Junior Desmond Claude was especially adept at breaking Purdue down and getting to the basket. Claude finished with a team-high 18 points, most of which coming near the basket, and was the engine that drove the Trojans’ offense all night.
There’s a coolness to Claude’s game. One that allowed the 6’6” junior to repeatedly snake his way to the basket. And when Claude didn’t finish inside, he found teammates along the perimeter, where USC matched Purdue shot-for-shot from deep.
In addition to Claude, USC got solid contributions from Wesley Yates (13 points and seven rebounds), Matt Knowling (11 points on a perfect five-of-five from the field) and Rashaun Agee (11 points and seven rebounds).
Thursday’s nightcap – a back-and-forth affair that featured 13 ties and nine lead changes – was the most compelling game of the day. It was a game in which each team, particularly down the stretch, treated each possession as if a trip in the Final Four was on the line. A hard-fought game that wasn’t decided until the game’s final 30 seconds.
“I feel for the locker room,” Musselman said after the game. “This group came here to try to win this tournament, and I thought we put ourselves in position tonight to play one more day.” And had Claude’s final shot fallen, a short floater in the lane, they may very well may have done so.
