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Purdue F Hummel out for season
By Cliff Brunt
February 25, 2010
Indianapolis, IN — One unfortunate step by Robbie Hummel has put Purdue’s Final Four hopes in jeopardy.
The do-it-all junior forward will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
The injury occurred during the first half of No. 3 Purdue’s 59-58 win over Minnesota on Wednesday. Purdue made the announcement after Hummel underwent an MRI examination on Thursday afternoon.
“Injuries are a part of the game, but this is obviously disappointing on multiple levels because of everything Robbie Hummel has done for this program both on and off the court,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said in a statement. “As he begins his recovery and rehab, Robbie will continue to provide integral leadership as we pursue our team goals down the stretch.”
Reaching those goals—winning the Big Ten title, gaining a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and reaching the Final Four in Indianapolis—now will be more difficult. Hummel ranks second on the team with 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Hummel’s value always has gone beyond statistics.
“Rob does something for us offensively and defensively that balances our team,” Painter said last season while Hummel was out with a back injury. “He’s a facilitator. He moves the basketball, he makes the extra pass, he gets the ball inside. … Some of the basic things that don’t show up in a box score is what we miss.”
The Boilermakers (24-3, 12-3 Big Ten) are on a 10-game win streak, lead the Big Ten and are enjoying their highest national ranking since 1994. Now, Purdue heads into Sunday’s showdown with Michigan State without one of their stars.
Purdue struggled last season while Hummel recovered from the back injury. In Purdue’s first 11 Big Ten games last season, the Boilermakers were 6-1 with him and scored 68 points per game while allowing 60. Without him, Purdue was 1-3 and averaged 60 points while surrendering 63.
When he returned to near full strength at the Big Ten tournament, he lifted the team by averaging 16 points and 9.3 rebounds per game and received the most outstanding player award.
He had been healthy all season until Wednesday night. Purdue led 26-14 when Hummel drove to the lane and felt his right leg give slightly as he tried to plant with 7:11 left in the half.
“Obviously, we missed him, because we had a good start to the game,” Painter said after the game. “He gives us a balance to the game. He can go inside or outside, and he’s a good passer. When we lost him, it hurt us a little bit.”
The Boilermakers showed they can win without him. Purdue led 26-14 when Hummel was hurt, then fell behind in the second half before rallying to win.
“They did a great job on making shots when they had to, getting the rebound, and they made some clutch shots down
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Smith, No. 5 Duke top pesky Tulsa, 70-52
By Joedy McCreary
February 25, 2010
Durham, NC — Nolan Smith had 18 points, Kyle Singler added 17 and No. 5 Duke pulled away to beat Tulsa 70-52 on Thursday night.
Jon Scheyer finished with 15 points for the Blue Devils (24-4). They used an big run early in the second half to break open a surprisingly tight game and extend their decade-long nonconference winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 77.
Jerome Jordan had 12 points to lead the Golden Hurricane (19-9). In losing their fourth straight, they finished with a season-low point total and were denied the first victory against a top-five team since 1996.
Leading scorer Ben Uzoh, who entered on a streak of three straight 20-point games, finished with eight on 3-of-15 shooting.
Brian Zoubek, a 7-foot-1 senior who has emerged lately as one of Duke’s most valuable players, had 10 points and 11 rebounds. He started the game-breaking 18-3 run with a layup through the 7-foot Jordan’s foul with 19:05 remaining.
Smith reeled off six straight points and Scheyer scored eight in a row before Miles Plumlee hit a hook shot to make it 52-36 with 13 1/2 minutes left.
That had the Blue Devils well on their way to their 18th straight win at Cameron. They have won 41 straight at home against unranked opponents, they are 16-0 there this season with all but one of those victories by double figures, and Friday makes it 10 years since a non-Atlantic Coast Conference team beat them on their home court.
Justin Hurtt added 11 points for the Golden Hurricane and tied it at 34 with a free throw with 19:20 to play, but they missed 6 of 7 shots after that while turning it over three times during Duke’s decisive spurt.
Steven Idlet had 10 points for Tulsa, which shot 26 percent from the field during the second half and finished 1 of 10 from 3-point range.
Lance Thomas had 10 rebounds for ACC-leading Duke.
At least on the surface, the late-February timing of this game seemed unusual. But coach Mike Krzyzewski scheduled this break in the ACC schedule with the NCAA tournament in mind, hoping to give his Blue Devils a test against a quality, unfamiliar nonconference opponent.
And for a while, they got one.
The Golden Hurricane kept themselves within striking distance through the first half, never allowing Duke to lead by more than 10 points and clawing back to tie it at 28 on Bryson Pope’s layup 3 minutes before the break. That, despite a miserable start to the half by their top player: Uzoh missed eight of his first 10 shots.
Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik was no stranger to Duke’s hostile arena: He was on Matt Doherty’s staff at rival North Carolina from 2000-03, and those teams went 1-2 at Cameron. But ultimately, that familiarity couldn’t help the Golden Hurricane claim the program’s third victory against a top-five team and first since knocking off then-No. 5 UCLA in 1996.
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