Happy New Years Boilermaker fans! At least it was, 10 years ago! Join me as we take a trip back to one of the rare New Years Day college basketball games. Not only was it a January 1st game, but it was also a New Years game that featured 2(!) Top-10 teams playing on campus. #6 West Virginia made the 441 mile trip from Morgantown, WV to West Lafayette, IN to take on the #4 Boilermakers. One of the most entertaining Purdue basketball games ever played took place and we are going to take a look back and see how it went!

This is another all-time memorable game for Purdue that I didn’t get to see in person. That’s unfortunate and I think this game specifically, at least for me, would easily be in my top-3 favorite games to see in person. I love to see these interesting match-ups in person more than a game where Purdue wins as the underdog. Winning as the underdog is great and will always be exciting to me; but, seeing a high-profile and high-level game like this one? Give me that one all day long! The expectation was that this was going to be a grind, it wasn’t about Purdue overcoming a more talented opponent. It was about Purdue taking care of business and just flat-out beating West Virginia at home as the better team. It reminds me of the Villanova game in the tournament in 2018-19 because Purdue arguably was the better team and they took care of business wire-to-wire!

That being said, let’s set the scene!

The Scene: As mentioned in the intro, this was a rare New Years Day game between two Top-10 programs where there was, and still is, a lot of mutual respect between the two. West Virginia was coming into Mackey Arena as the #6 team in the country and boasted one of the largest starting 5’s in the country with all starters standing between 6’7 and 6’9. Purdue’s JaJuan Johnson stood 6’10 being the tallest of the Boilers. Even with the size concerns, the Mountaineers had to come into one of, if not the greatest, environments in the nation!

The Questions: Some valid questions were surrounding this game for the Boilers. When these Top-10 teams clash, fans have to wonder if their team will be able to step-up in a big game? Would the fact that it was New Years Day play a factor in the focus both teams came into the game with? Would Purdue be able to score on a defense that is designed to be able to switch at all five positions? As for WVU, how would they handle playing a top-5 team in a true road environment? Only time will tell!

The Video: Watch along as you read!

The First Half: Purdue starts the game with the ball and they quickly find JaJuan Johnson wide-open under the basket for a game-opening slam! The crowd gets some early energy that helps energize the team on defense as you can see how aggressive this Purdue defense is with the full-court pressure, the quick defensive rotations, and the position of each defender. E’twaun Moore sinks a couple of free-throws to push it to 4-0 Purdue before WVU finally gets on the board 2.5 minutes in. On the following possession, we see Robbie Hummel hit a deep pull up jumper to get on the board himself!

As we hit the under-16 mark of the first half, Purdue holds a 6-2 lead and you can tell why the defenses from both squads are playing at a very high level so far. Johnson’s dunk to start the game is the only clean look either team has gotten at this point in the game. You can feel that this is going to be a war and whichever team can weather the storm and make the necessary adjustments first will have the advantage. As we pass the 15:30 mark WVU hits their first three to pull the Mountaineers to within one, 6-5 Purdue. Hummel picks up his second foul on a reach in and he will have to sit, as Purdue has a couple of empty possessions that give WVU enough to take the lead 10-6 after a couple of free-throws and a secondary break three.

Purdue comes back to tie it at 10 all a couple minutes later with an emphatic dunk by JaJuan Johnson off a Keaton Grant missed layup. We reach the under-12 and the offenses have settled in and with 11:20 remaining in the half, it’s tied 12-12 with possession to WVU after E’twaun Moore was called for a charge before the break. The refs at this point also seem to be determined to not let the game get out of hand as, with over 11 minutes left in the first half, WVU finds themselves in the bonus as Purdue hits 8 team fouls.

We pass the 10-minute mark and a pair of J. Johnson free-throws push Purdue ahead 17-12 as they look to take control of this game. WVU responds with a 5-0 run on a contested layup and a foul-and-one that pulls them even. The teams trade a Hummel jumper, a WVU three, E’twaun immediately responds with a three of his own, and a Kelsey Barlow pick-six transition dunk prompts a WVU timeout with 8:02 left in the half! Purdue finds themselves with the momentum again, but can they hold on through the rest of the half?

The defensive pressure of Purdue is causing issues for the Mountaineers as they find themselves pushed away from the basket where they can’t take advantage of their size. A Keaton Grant rebound put-back pushes it to a 7-0 Purdue run and a score of 26-20 Purdue!

Then this happens:

With the crowd on their feet, the Boilermaker defense stiffens and one of the most iconic Robbie Hummel moments ensues. Watch that a few times. you won’t regret it.

This forces another WVU timeout to try and regroup with just under 7-minutes left in the half. As play resumes Purdue has all the momentum and a 6-point lead as JaJuan Johnson goes back to the line where he makes both to push it to 28-20. Purdue is asserting themselves on both ends of the floor now. After a couple of empty possessions and turnovers, including an offensive foul on WVU in transition. Johnson finds himself open again under the basket for another dunk that gets the Mackey crowd on their feet! The lead has grown to 10 with Johnson leading the charge with 14 points. The lead reaches 12 on a Grant put-back and WVU needs another timeout!

We go under 4-minutes and the visitors finally get back on the board with a rebound and put-back, followed up by a pair of free-throws that pull them back to within 8, 32-24. Barlow responds on the offensive end with an athletic drive from the corner to lay one in at the rim. Unfortunately, he follows that up with a missed dunk that is followed up by a WVU three that pulls them back to within 5, a Keaton Grant layup, and another WVU three as we see the offenses pick it up a bit as we near the end of the half. Purdue handles the ball for the last shot and we see Johnson go back to the line after being fouled on an entry pass. He makes 1-2 and Purdue goes into the half with a 37-32 lead over the Mountaineers!

Overall, I think this half went very well for Purdue and I don’t just say that because they are winning. They were able to establish themselves as the aggressors on defense forcing WVU out of their rhythm causing issues with the rotations. On offense, the Boilers made sure to emphasize JaJuan down low since WVU’s defensive philosophy was that they would switch every screen. This caused a lot of mismatches for Johnson and he was able to take advantage of the WVU defense. I think the fouls could be cleaned up a bit going into the second half, but when you play as aggressive defense as Purdue does, these are bound to happen.

Halftime Thoughts: This 2009-10 season always makes me think of the 2017-18 season. A team that at points during the season seemed unstoppable, but ultimately was derailed by an injury to one of the teams’ most important players. For 09-10 there was “That night in the Barn”, and for 2017-18 there was Cal State Fullerton. While in both seasons, the team ultimately made it to the Sweet-16 before losing, there will always be the thought of, “what if?”

The Second Half: Purdue starts the second half with the ball and E’twaun Moore opens the half with a free-throw line jumper for two to continue Purdue’s momentum. On the next offensive possession, Moore is fouled shooting a three and he goes to the line for three. He goes 1-3 from the line but we also find our second memorable moment of this game. Watch:

Moore follows his miss to stuff it back in over the back of the WVU defender! It pushes the lead back to 10 and Mackey is rocking again! WVU makes a long jumper after a Moore foul before Johnson finds himself behind the defense again for another wide-open dunk down low. Keaton Grant then decides he doesn’t want to be left out of the party and takes a steal coast-to-coast for a powerful two-handed flush! Then, because this is Purdue, this sequence is capped off by a WVU backcourt violation that puts the crowd over the top!

Only 2:20 has been played in this second half and it feels like Purdue is finally taking hold. With 17:10 left Ryne Smith drills a corner three and the lead has grown to fifteen and they ratchet up the defense to force another stop before Hummel finds himself open for a long jumper that puts the Boilers up 51-34! WVU once again needs a timeout as they suddenly can’t seem to find success on either end of the floor.

After the timeout, they can find a three that stems the tide momentarily, but on the next possession, Ryne Smith lays in a wide-open layup for the answer and makes two foul shots after being fouled in transition. Purdue seems to be getting whatever they want on offense and their defense is still giving WVU issues in every aspect. With 14:29 left in the half, Johnson once again gets a great position under the basket and is fouled on the shot for the and-1! He misses the free-throw but Purdue’s lead still finds itself at 20.

Purdue is just out-hustling the Mountaineers on both ends of the floor. Robbie Hummel exemplifies this with a major offensive rebound with 13:14 left, he then drills a corner three, Purdue gets a stop, He puts in another pull up jumper to make it a 25-7 Purdue run to start the second half! Bob Huggins calls another timeout and tries to find something that will stop the Boilermakers’ momentum. An E’twaun Moore jumper shows this to be an ineffective strategy. WVU finally gets a clean look at the basket before Robbie Hummel answers again with another jumper.

With 9:36 remaining Matt Painter calls a timeout after a couple of WVU baskets and the score sits at Purdue 66 WVU 45. It has been all Purdue in the second half as WVU looks out of sorts in almost every facet of the game. They try to speed Purdue up with a full-court running trap press that works slightly forcing Purdue into some unbalanced offensive possessions. This could be a combination of the press or the lead, but Purdue doesn’t seem to be as crisp as they were just a few minutes ago.

A few WVU baskets and empty Purdue possessions later, the score sits at 68-52 Purdue before JaJuan Johnson once again finds himself playing above the rim and puts in a dunk that hopefully wakes this team up on the other end of the floor. It seems to work as E’twaun Moore gets a steal to finally slow down West Virginia. It also helps when you have upperclassmen like Moore and Hummel to break the West Virginia press leading to a secondary transition alley-oop to Johnson with 5:35 left in the game! It was a textbook definition of how to break the press, reverse the ball, then get it to the middle, and find the open man.

The run by WVU seems to be quelled as a few more empty Mounaineer possessions ensue when we hit the 4-minute mark and the Boilermaker lead sits at 18 and a score of 72-54. It has truly been a very impressive outing by the Boilers in this one as they have handled the defensive size and pressure of West Virginia.

With 3 minutes to play, WVU is still pressing but Purdue continually breaks the pressure and seems content to work the clock. Hummel hits one more long jumper for a dagger and this one feels done and dusted. WVU calls off the dogs as the final minute mark passes. As the clock winds down the Mackey crowd rises as Purdue finishes them off with the final score of 77-62 in a dominant home win for the Boilermakers!

Final Stats (ESPN)

Individual Stats

• JaJuan Johnson: 8-14 FG (25 pts) / 9-11 FT / 10 Reb / 2 blks / 1 ast

• Robbie Hummel: 7-8 FG (18 pts) / 2-3 3PT / 2-3 FT / 2 Reb / 1 stl

• E’twaun Moore: 5-14 FG (15 pts) / 1-3 3PT / 4-7 FT / 2 Reb / 3 Ast / 2 Stl

Team Stats:

Purdue Boilermakers:

• FG%/3PT%: 28-56(50%)/4-12(33.3%)

• Free Throws: 17-23 (73.9%)

• Rebounds: 31

• Assists: 11

• Steals: 9

• Blocks: 2

• Turnovers: 7

West Virginia Mountaineers:

• FG%/3PT%: 22-48(45.8%)/9-12(75%)

• Free Throws: 9-10 (90%)

• Rebounds: 37

• Assists: 12

• Steals: 3

• Blocks: 3

• Turnovers: 18

The Results: This was a straight thrashing by Purdue to the #6 team in the country. Purdue suffocated them on defense and made them not even want to be in the same gym as the Boilers. WVU coach Bob Huggins had this to say about playing in Mackey Arena,

“It’s a hard environment to play in, and second, I’ve got a lot of young kids, and they’ve got veterans.”

That seems to be the crux of the game. We have seen in recent years that Mackey Arena is one of the best environments in college basketball and can cause a lot of teams to have issues when Mackey is rolling. Purdue forced WVU out of their comfort zone and never let them get close to comfortable again.

JaJuan Johnson feasted all game long ending with a 25 point and 10 rebound double-double. He routinely got to the rim and caused issues all game long. Robbie Hummel started slow dealing with foul trouble but still ended up pouring in 18 points and E’twaun Moore contributed 15. Purdue took a 5 point lead into the half and their largest lead of the game was 26 points in the second half. There was a point where over 7 minutes in the second half. Purdue went on a 27-5 run. Dominant performance.

In the grand scheme of things, this game set up a realistic expectation that the Boilers can compete for the national championship. They were undefeated at now 13-0 heading into Big Ten play. The expectations were through the roof, and with performances like this? Justified. I fully believe that if it were not for a night that shall not be named later in the season, Purdue would be a tough out in early April.

This game will always be remembered for the scene surrounding the game. A top-10 showdown in West Lafayette with the Boilermakers taking the game in a blowout on New Years Day. Hard to argue that this is one of the more impressive wins in program history. It’s always one of my favorite games to re-visit because of the atmosphere, the team performance, and the result.

Why this Game? This is another one of those games in Purdue basketball history that I don’t feel necessitates much explanation. This was a game that started close and wound up being a blowout in Purdue’s favor. It had a moment that would be replayed in Purdue Hype videos for the rest of time with Hummel and the 5-second call! Purdue took a top-10 team to the woodshed in the second half and Mackey was rocking the whole way! These types of games come few-and-far-between, and Purdue took advantage this time.

How do you feel? Leave a comment below or tweet at me your thoughts @BoilerInTexas on how you felt watching this game! As well as if you enjoy re-watching old games to re-live them!

What’s Next? Let’s move forward to 2018 and look back at a night in Mackey Arena where no player was missing and we were treated to an all-time offensive performance from both teams.

Michigan comes to town and the scoreboard erupts.

As always, Boiler Up, Hammer Down, Hail Purdue!