Coming in to the night, Minnesota was desperate for a win. After starting the conference season 1-3, they needed to to knock off one of the nation's best teams, and since they were at home, it was the perfect storm.
Purdue had a cold shooting night. Ryne Smith was held to one three pointer, giving him his only points of the night. JaJuan Johnson was the reason Purdue stayed in this game, he had 29 points. E'Twaun Moore didn't help things, he was ice cold, scoring five points and missing shots as easy as lay-ins.
Minnesota's Hoffarber had 26 points, if it weren't for him, Minnesota could have been in trouble. Mbakwe only had seven points but 10 boards. Purdue won the rebounding battle by 10.
Overall, I think it was the perfect storm for Minnesota to get a win. They were at home, the crowd was a factor, they were desperate for a win and Purdue was having an ice cold shooting night.
The media will start it's harassment of Purdue once again and the Boilermakers will have to start over in proving them wrong. It will be interesting to see how many spots Purdue drops in the polls, if they win at West Virginia on Sunday.
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Minnesota getting this win was huge for their NCAA Tournament hopes and their Big Ten title hopes. Minnesota has to play like this at home. They looked like a great team.
Purdue will be fine. They travel to face WVU on Sunday, another tough road test. It was just one of those cold shooting night cases that everyone endures.
Everyone in the Big Ten is going to lose at some point. No one will go undefeated. Ohio State remains the only unbeaten and they are bound to fall sometime. It will be interesting to see the rematch at Purdue on January 29th.
Minnesota fans definitely think that the call to no suspend Mbakwe was a good now now, if it weren't for his seven points and 10 rebounds, they probably would have lost.
Minor setback for the Boilermakers, huge step forward for the Gophers.