Brandon McKnight – This was not one of Brandon’s best games offensively. I think he missed three lay-ups and he had at least two passes that were ankle height that led to Purdue turnovers. Still, it’s hard to fault a guy that gives everything he has when he’s on the floor. He hounded Deron Williams basically all day and really kept him in check. Gene said before the game that he thought Brandon needed to relax more at the offensive end and just let the shots come. After watching today I have to agree that Brandon is pressing and trying to do too much.

Andrew Ford – Andrew started both halves today, but gave way fairly early on to Bryant Dillon. Andrew didn’t score, but he did have three assists in nine minutes and did a reasonable job at the defensive end.

Carl Landry – Carl’s biggest accomplishment today was that he managed to avoid serious foul trouble. That meant that he was able to log 36 minutes and score 15 points and pull down seven rebounds (five offensive) to go with two assists and a blocked shot. He did have a couple of bad turnovers, but Illinois was really focused on keeping him from getting the ball in the low post and I thought he did a good job taking what was available. He even stepped out and hit a three-pointer in the 2nd half.

Matt Kiefer – Matt came out on fire and scored 9 points in the first four minutes or so. He had one play where he faked a shot and then took it to the hole for an easy dunk and it was great to see him so energized. He did get into foul trouble and ended up playing only 26 minutes, but during that time he scored 17 points and pulled down six rebounds in perhaps his best offensive performance of the year. Like Carl, he needs to stay out of foul trouble if Purdue is going to compete for wins, but it looks to me like he’s really working hard at it.

David Teague – Illinois made David a primary emphasis of their defense today. They basically had one guy shadowing him wherever he went and to David’s credit he didn’t get frustrated and start throwing up off balance shots like he was earlier in the year. He ended up playing 39 minutes and was really working his tail off at both ends of the floor. I would give him high marks for the effort he’s giving.

Gary Ware – Gary came off the bench today and only played five minutes. He had one turnover and made a super block on a shot right at the end of the first half when Purdue desperately needed a stop.

Bryant Dillon – Bryant played the best game he’s played all year today. He played 29 minutes and scored seven points and added five rebounds, five assists, one block and only two turnovers against some very heavy pressure from Illinois. It was really encouraging to see him play so well against such good competition.

Charles Davis – Charles got 13 minutes today and did some good work in those minutes. He had trouble finishing a couple of shots (it looked to me like he drew contact with no call), but he did have four rebounds, an excellent block, an assist and a turnover and I think everyone has to be happy with the contribution he is making considering his inexperience.

Xavier Price – I thought Xavier looked a little lost in the 1st half, but he came back in the 2nd half and played much better. He only played six minutes and didn’t score, but he hustled and played solid defense.

Going into today’s game, I thought Purdue could win, but only if Illinois shot the ball poorly from outside. Illinois wasn’t quite as hot as Wisconsin was last Wednesday, but they still managed to hit 11-of-22 from three-point range and once again five different players had three-pointers. Just like Wisconsin, Illinois actually shot the ball better from outside the arc than they did from inside. The three-point shot is not only hard to defend when you’re playing a team like Illinois, it’s also a huge negative psychological factor when a team seems to be draining three-pointer after three-pointer. In the end analysis, what hurt Purdue more than anything else today was turnovers. Purdue had 13 (which isn’t all that bad), but Illinois had only seven and those extra six possessions are huge when the game is as close as this game was for about 30 minutes.
I’m not one to take much solace in losing a game, but if there was ever a game that I didn’t feel terrible about losing, today’s game was that game. In the over 40 years I’ve been watching Purdue play basketball, I’ve not seen too many Big 10 teams that were in the same league with this year’s Illinois team. This is a legitimate National Championship contender with multiple weapons. If they can avoid injuries, I think they have a chance to be one of the best teams the Big 10 has ever produced. I doubt that they will go undefeated, but they aren’t going to lose very many times and it’s going to take an awfully good effort by somebody to beat them because I don’t think they are going to beat themselves. About the only real weakness I saw today was their free throw shooting and I suspect (without looking it up) that they are better than they showed today in that particular aspect of the game.

As for Purdue, I’m encouraged. I think this team just needs to get some wins. It’s so hard to maintain enthusiasm and confidence when you’re not winning that the biggest worry I have is that this team will stop competing. I haven’t seen any signs of that at this point, but it’s still a concern. To me, one of the good things to come out of this game today is that this team ought to be saying to themselves "Hey, we gave the No. 1 team in the country all they wanted. If we can just keep up this level of effort and intensity, good things are going to start happening." I remain convinced that this year’s team has enough talent to be competitive. I don’t expect any miraculous turnaround, but I do think that they can compete with and beat just about anyone else in the Big 10 except Illinois. Wisconsin showed tonight against Indiana that they are an extremely beatable team when the three-point shots aren’t falling and I suspect the same thing is true of teams like Minnesota, Ohio State, Indiana and Iowa. I think I’m realistic enough to know that this year’s Purdue team isn’t going to be challenging for any Big 10 Titles, but there’s no reason why they can’t beat some of the teams that are currently rated higher than they are.