Defense wasn't great, but taking care of the rock seems to be a problem. lots of poor decisions on entry passes and just not valuing a possession. a lot better in the second half, but we got close then had a couple of poor possessions and poof - the lead was 15 again.

still liked the fire in the second half and they didn't fold the tents. this team will get better as the year goes along and if they get healthy, i think they can make some noise in the MAC.

Really???? Who is still here from Saul ball ? Preston, Dartis, BVP and Murrell come to mind. Not sure how many games your butt has been in a seat ?? I haven't missed one for several years. I sure wouldn't call that group those names. Jeff has done a good job with the core of players we had, showing the door to those that needed to go and recruiting the future. We played tonight without # 6 - #8 off the bench hurt. Also might note we out scored Purdue in the second half. With that said , if we get everyone healthy - I look for great surprises for other MAC teams in Feb and March.

Bottom line . Name these inexperienced, unathletic, undersized players you speak of ?????????

A couple of thoughts from last night. First off, I sure hope these 9 pm TV starts are rare. It is one thing to come home after midnight and wake up at 6 am half a life ago, but now is a different matter. Also, not that it mattered but the tall bald official might have been one of the worst officials I have ever seen. Judging from the reaction of the other officials, and in the interaction with Coach Boals, I am not sure the other officials would disagree.

By happenstance, I happened to catch chalk talk with Coach Boals. The game plan and the interaction Coach Boals had with the attendees was excellent. Perhaps the biggest bright spot for me was the way the team refused to fold, especially in the second half. Even though it was a home game, it was a pale comparison of what might have been had Purdue allowed us to schedule them earlier in the month when students were still there. Purdue wisely pressured our offensive flow from beyond the top of the key. It was hard for us to run the offense as it was designed. We will adjust and probably not face that kind of talent for the rest of the year.

On a side note, I had a very informative discussion with some students uptown at a watering hole (while we grabbed a beer and some food) before the game. They (it was a bout 50-50 male-female) were all seniors or fifth year seniors about to graduate. A couple of them were local Athens County kids, and the others were just hanging out until later in the week. It seems about half of them were aware that the Bobcats were playing Purdue, but none of them were going to the game. About half of them go to a few games a year, while a couple of them said they had maybe been to one or two football or basketball games in their entire stay in Athens. Yet, they all proclaimed to be at least casual sports fans, some of them had traveled to bowl games and or basketball road trips, but they saw this as an extension of their social activities. They just didn't think of the Bobcats the way they think of big time power conference sports. They seemed intrigued that there were so many alums coming in for the game and wondered what it must have been like back in the day. It was a very open and enjoyable conversation, but more than a little depressing all at the same time.

I know Purdue has a couple bad losses but they've got some serious talent on that team. The ball handling and movement was just so far superior to us. I don't think we played particularly good...I'd say we played average to below average and definitely did not give them our best. Movement on offense was painful at times. Preston struggled, largely because the team struggled to get open for him. Part credit to Purdue's defense but I still think we were more flat footed than normal.

Yes there were about 5 defensive breakdowns that gave Purdue wide open looks from 3 (and I think they swished every one of them). But overall I thought our defensive effort was good. BVP & McDay both had solid effort games, nothing crazy in the box score but just solid play.

4 players with 37+ minutes, wow. I know injuries play into that but I did not expect this. Nate Springs attempting 8 three pointers, who would've guessed it? Will be interesting to see if Springs still gets minutes when Foster comes back.

Major props to Matt Painter for coming on the Ohio pregame show, I caught just before getting out of the car. He is a refreshing model of consistency and durability as a coach in today's game. And props to Purdue for having the balls to come to Athens. It was exciting to have them and ESPN in the house. When we got within 6, it was super exciting and felt great. Crowd was okay considering the break and start time.

We are 0-4 against high major programs and 7-0 against mid/low major programs. In the end, they remind me of my 13U travel baseball team. Against a proper opponent, they do well. But if they find themselves paired up against higher tier talent and physical beasts, they can't quite rise to the occasion. This team is ready to compete in the MAC, I will be disappointed if we finish below .500 in the MAC.

Obviously any game scheduling comes with a negotiation. It doesn't change the fact that they were willing to do something lots of high major programs are completely unwilling to do.

Agree about having ESPN in the house. However, I'll be OK if Robbie Hummel never does an Ohio University basketball game again. . . at least when the opponent isn't Hummel's alma mater.

Put some respeck on the name. That's 2019 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year Robbie Hummel to you. They made it abundantly clear this is his full name from now on.

I complained about the 9pm tip but still made the trip from Columbus. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the energy in the building. It wasn't a big crowd but there was a lot of passion in the stands.

I really think the cheerleaders should have to stay on campus and cheer the games they committed to when they signed up. The consider themselves student athletes, no? There were times that the fans really needed some direction on cheers. The timing was off a lot of the time and could've used an energy boost when Purdue went on runs. The atmosphere is at its best when the fans/cheerleaders/band/team is all working together.

Speed and quickness was the difference maker in my opinion. Purdue just played fast on defense and we struggled on offense. There were points where we couldn't even initiate the offense b/c nobody could get open and once the first option got shut down, it became 1 on 1 dribbling with no movement. Super easy to defend at that point.

Preston was frustrated all night and it became evident that we will need to be able to have a second guy bring the ball up. He will continue to get pressured full court which takes away his passing capability.

I also noticed we didn't really have a "go-to" play to get an easy bucket. Maybe we did and they shut it down but Purdue seemed to run some very effective plays that resulted in a 2 on 1 underneath for the easy lay up.

That dunk was up there but I've seen better from Mo Ndour and Devaughn Washington.

Not sure when the 3 pt line got moved back, within the last 5 years I think.

The best I've ever seen in the Convo was that little guy from Lamar who threw down a one handed oop over Ricardo.

The line extended for the men this year. The second line is for the women. I forget if the women used that same line last year. I'll be interested to see how much three point percentages change nationwide compared to last year.

-It's gonna be interesting to see how Springs is used going forward. It's hard to leave a guy who can shoot like that off the floor, especially if he can stretch a big guy out to defend him which opens lanes up for the guards to penetrate.

But he's getting pushed around on the defensive end a little too much and is a little slow in rotating on switches i.e. gets caught watching the ball. I'm glad he's only a Redshirt Freshman because there are some things I like and for Boals and Co to work with. His length has to be utilized more on that side of the floor. He'd actually be a really intriguing piece in a 1-3-1 zone if left in the middle, but we're not there yet.

-So glad we get 3.5 more years of Lunden McDay. Kid can play. He may end up being one of the best wings we've seen here in a long time. He does a lot of things well.

-Really anxious to see what this team is like at full strength, hopefully getting some reinforcements for MAC play. Jordy, JP and BVP are gutting it out.

I don't disagree that having the cheerleaders and the band at the game would have added to the atmosphere. I'm just not convinced that the ". . .fans really needed some direction on cheers."