Boil(er)ed up and eaten

 You gotta feel a bit now for Mike Woodson. These are not exactly his palmy days.

I mean, shoot. Now he can't even beat Purdue.

Excuse me, did I say "beat" Purdue?

I meant "compete" with Purdue.

Because whatever that was in Assembly Hall last night, it wasn't the death-grip fight Indiana-Purdue usually gives us. It was Whatsamatta U.-Purdue, is what it was.

By that I mean it was 87-66 at the finish, and over by halftime. Purdue left the floor at the break with a 51-29 lead, and Indiana left the floor to boos from the Assembly Hall faithful. And if that never should happen in the Hall, the worst part was this: The Hoosiers deserved those boos.

The IU bigs, supposedly the strength of the team, couldn't stop Zach Edey without fouling him. Mackenzie Mgbako, Indiana's best player right now, picked up two early fouls, and so did 7-foot center Kel'el Ware. The Indiana guards, meanwhile, were their usual ineffective selves -- and Xavier Johnson again disgraced himself, proving he'd learned nothing from Woodson benching him.

In 19 wretched minutes, he had zero points, zero assists, two rebounds and a couple of steals. Oh, and three fouls -- including one flagrant (and flagrantly stupid) foul when he stepped away from his man to hit Edey with a forearm shiver as Edey cut past him to the basket.

This was not helpful on a night when Ware and Malik Reneau combined for just 13 points, and Edey went for 33 points and 14 boards. And it especially wasn't helpful on a night when the Purdue backcourt ritually undressed Indiana's -- Braden Smith penetrating at will and dishing nine assists, and Fletcher Loyer and Lance Jones torching the Hoosiers for a combined 36 points on 12-of-18 shooting, including 7-of-11 from the 3-point line.

Indiana, meanwhile missed 16 of its 24 attempts from the arc, and shot five percentage points lower than the Purdues all told. The Hoosiers also were outscored 22-4 at the stripe, which IU fans might be inclined to crab about (They shot 20 more free throws than we did in OUR HOUSE! How is that possible?) unless they were, you know, actually watching the game.

In any event, it boiled, or Boiler-ed, down to this: Purdue was Purdue. And Indiana was ... well, whatever Indiana is now.

One night the Hoosiers look like they might have a clue, finally. The next they lose by 21 at home to their fiercest rival -- the biggest Purdue win in Bloomington in 90 years.

No, sir. Not the palmy days at all for Mike Woodson.

If he thought the IU basketball crucible was uncomfortable before -- remember him joking this week he hoped Crimson Nation still loved him? -- he ain't seen nothin' yet. You lose like that to Purdue, right in front of the Nation, the crucible becomes more than just uncomfortable. It becomes damn near intolerable.

Yes, his team is still young. Yes, the two guys who made them go last year -- and who were the major reason Woodson beat Matt Painter twice last year -- are in the NBA now. And, yes, until last night, Woodson was 3-1 against Purdue.

Now he's only 3-2.

But holy crow. What a "2".