Swanigan Reminds Sparty What They Don’t Have, Boilers Pull Away in Second, 84-73

Caleb Swanigan had once committed to play for Tom Izzo at Michigan State but then de-committed and chose to come to Purdue. It was a win for the Boilermakers, as Matt Painter was frequently beaten by Izzo on the recruiting trail. State fans, being the reasonable people that they are, turned on Swanigan in the vicious way you might expect.

But last year, in Biggie’s freshman season, the Boilers didn’t make a trip to East Lansing, playing the Spartans at home and in the BTT. So last night was Caleb’s first visit since saying no to St. Tom and the Spartans, something that they aren’t used to and don’t deal with well.

Chris Forman reported vile behavior from the Izzone and on TV you could hear the chants of “Calllllleb, Calllllleb.” I guess saying someone’s name is….. badass? Good job, Izzone! You mentally rocked Swanigan into a night of only 25 points and 17 rebounds.

My night started with having to ask for the Purdue-MSU game to be put on at my local BWWs. Naturally, ESPN had screwed up something in the guides they send to the various TV providers, because both my local cable provider as well as DirecTV had the ESPN and ESPN2 games reversed – Purdue was in the guide on ESPN2 but was showing on ESPN. You can imagine the confusion it caused for BWW workers.

The best part of watching the first half at BWW, though, was not having to hear Dan Dakich.

Purdue came out and weathered a Sparty that was hopped up to be hosting Purdue. And I think that’s often the mark of how a team is developing – can you weather the storms? In a case like this, you’ve got a team that needs a win, is playing at home, is a good home team, and is playing in a near-desperate mode. And then you have a guy who decides to go off, in Miles Bridges. As Craig Kilborn (I think) once said on SportsCenter, “It was Miles Bridges Night, it just didn’t say it on your ticket.” Or at least it looked like it was going to be.

Bridges poured in 33 points on 12/17 shooting, including 5/8 from deep. He also grabbed seven rebounds and had four blocks. That’s a night, folks. Make no mistake. And yeah, he’s a freshman.

The bad news for MSU was that nobody else wound up in double figures, while Purdue had one of my favorite things when looking at a box score – distribution, with six guys in double figures. Caleb led the way, of course, with 25 and 17 on 8/13 from the floor, 3/4 from deep and 6/6 from the line. He also had seven turnovers, so if we’re looking for things to criticize, that remains the Achilles heel. Though when the rest of your numbers are monstrous, you can overcome such setbacks.

The distribution I mentioned went like this: Carsen had 12, Haas had 11, and then Vincent, Dakota and PJ each had ten. That’s got to be infuriating for opposing coaches when a team is that balanced. (I mentioned turnovers earlier but it’s also worth noting that not one Purdue guard who played had a single TO.)

Tom Izzo compained all night, including during his halftime interview and in the postgame, where he thought they didn’t get a few calls that turned the game. There was also a questionable “elbow” by Caleb Swanigan where he may have grazed the MSU player’s cheek, but after a beat that player reacted like he’d just been punched in the face twice from successive jabs. Dakich, of course, thought it was awful and Biggie should have gotten a flagrant. The officials didn’t even review it. Hey, even if it was contact, maybe that evens things up?

And after the game, ol’ St. Tom Izzo revealed how he really feels about the fans concerned with his team’s middling record:

“I don’t care about the fan base.”

I look forward to that quote following around one of college basketball’s most notorious whiners.

The Boilers passed their first test in this critical stretch of five games and if you’re feeling good about it, that’s okay, you should be. Now the next hurdle is to avoid the letdown that sometimes comes after a win like this. Next up is a trip to Lincoln to take on the enigmatic Huskers. Sunday at 4:30 Eastern on BTN. Or so they say.