True to formless

Oh, don't be silly. This one did not set basketball back fifty years.

Fifty years ago, people could shoot.

Fifty years ago, whatever that was Purdue and Indiana played last night would not have been called "basketball." It would have been called "a crime against the sovereign state of Indiana, where kids learn what a release point is by the time they're out of Garanimals." It would have been called "the perfect argument to dig up James Naismith and ask him why he couldn't have just left the peach baskets alone."

Purdue won, 57-49, because Purdue is Purdue and Indiana is Indiana, which means they both are dedicated to driving their respective coaches and fan bases straitjacket crazy. You thought the Boilermakers were finished because they'd lost four in a row and failed to make an appearance in their last appearance, a soggy pizza slice of a loss to Michigan? You thought the Hoosiers had finally turned things around after winning three of four and showing some spine against Penn State in their last outing?

"Ha!" said the Purdues.

"Ha!" said the Indianas.

Here's how this one went: The team that won missed 35 of its 56 shots and 15 of its 17 3-point attempts. The team that lost missed 45 of its 59 shots, 19 of its 24 from the arc and 13 straight shots during one stretch of the first half. It failed to score a point in the final 3:44 of the first half and the first 6:33 of the second.

You've heard the expression, "Couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat"?

The Hoosiers couldn't even hit the boat. And they were sitting in it.

Lowlights included the starting five shooting a combined 9-of-36, and Devonte "10-of-15 Or 3-of-15" Green shooting, you guessed it, 3-of-15. The front line of Joey Brunk, Justin Smith and Trace Jackson-Davis missed a combined 17 of 23 attempts, a good number of those coming within spitting distance of the rim.

If you can't even make a layup, you usually get laid up. I believe that was one of Naismith's original axioms.

The only upside for Indiana is the Hoosiers have probably already done enough to get into the NCAA Tournament. They're 18-10 and they've got enough Tier 1 or Archipelago 1 or whatever they call it wins to gain entry. Even if that entry leads immediately to an exit, it's still a big deal for a program that's missed the Big Show the last three seasons.

And Purdue?

At 15-14 and 8-10 in the Big Ten they're probably looking at an NIT bid, although their Madness hopes still have a faint heartbeat. They stand 11th in a conference the wise guys say will get 10 NCAA bids, which means they'd likely have to make a deep Big Ten Tournament run to get in.

Of course, both Indiana and Purdue will have to make a shot or two first.

I think Naismith said that, too.