A game between Michigan and Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament was always going to be a slugfest. I’m still not sure how Purdue managed to beat the Wolverines by 27 at Mackey Arena, but perhaps it gave me a false sense of how this Purdue team would do against Michigan on a neutral court. That’s on me.

Purdue started the game strong on the back of Trey Kaufman-Renn pouring in four points and grabbing three rebounds in less than two minutes. After that though, Purdue’s offense looked like it was stuck in literal mud. A lot of credit has to go to the Michigan defense who was making Purdue work for every single opportunity. You could tell that the Purdue offense was out of sorts when on their first 10 made baskets they had just two assists, both from Braden Smith. Trey Kaufman-Renn in particular was battling down low each time down the floor and even had the chair pulled out from under him on one play, masterfully so, for a travel.

Purdue let Michigan take a lead in the first half on the back of their rebounding. At one point Purdue was being outrebounded 16 to 9. However, it was rebounding that would help bring Purdue back in the game. Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn started grabbing rebounds and giving Purdue additional chances. Both Furst and TKR grabbed six rebounds in the first half to even up the rebounds at 20 at halftime. The Purdue crowd came alive at the end after Myles Colvin was called for a rather questionable foul call that resulted in two points for Michigan. On the very next possession Colvin drained a three to cut the Michigan lead to 40-36. Braden Smith had a very tough shot to try to bring it within one but it fell just short of making the crowd erupt.

John Wooden Memorial Player of the Game (JWMPOTG) – Trey Kaufman-Renn wins this one by default. He finished the game with 24 points and 9 rebounds but it wasn’t near enough for the Boilermakers.

Michigan came out in the second half and did just about everything right. They stepped on Purdue’s neck to start the half hitting their first five shots including two threes. Purdue would fight back here and there to get the lead down to single digits but the game was essentially over after the first few minutes of the half. It’s a shame because we got a good shooting performance from Myles Colvin that was wasted by a very poor second half.

Purdue too often found themselves in a two man game with Braden Smith looking for TKR and TKR doing his best down low. However, if you’re really only getting the ball to two players you are giving the defense a pretty good idea of what they need to do to stop you. Michigan did just that. In the second half TKR and Smith went 5-18 from the field. That’s just not going to cut it from your two stars.

I know there’s a certain segment of the fan base that hates these tournaments and wish Purdue would just not give it 100% out there. For a moment I was a member of that segment. Fletcher Loyer went down after trying to save a ball with just about 13 minutes left in the game. It looked bad at first viewing. Hell, even on second viewing it looked bad. I had a good vantage on the Purdue bench from my seat and rather than watching the game I just watched Loyer on the bench for a few minutes. He held it gingerly as he walked off the floor and wasn’t bending it but after a few minutes he started bending it and would eventually come back into the game. It was a huge sigh of relief moment for all of Boilermaker Nation as Purdue will desperately need their third scorer if they hope to make any noise in March Madness.

Michigan looked unbeatable in the second half, thanks in large part to Purdue’s defense. Michigan shot a blistering 65% from the floor in the second half. Compare that to Purdue’s 33% and you’ve got a good idea of why Purdue was not able to keep up with the Wolverines in that second half.

Somehow, Purdue leaves Indianapolis with more questions than answers after going 1-1 and losing to Michigan for the second time. We’ve seen these problems from Purdue in the back half of the season here with the defense not being able to stop anyone and the offense looking a bit stagnant. At this point in the season, with just one game guaranteed, I wouldn’t expect any sudden epiphanies to emerge that will change Purdue’s fortunes. We will find out who Purdue plays and where they play them on Sunday.

In what can only be described as an unusual first half of basketball, Purdue somehow found a way to go into halftime tied at 35. This was a half that saw Purdue get just 20 seconds on two possessions based on a rule that I literally had no idea existed. According to rules aficionados on Twitter if the turnover occurs in the backcourt and you then get the ball in the front court the shot clock only resets to 20 seconds. Basketball keeps surprising me I guess.

Purdue started the game hot from the field going 5-5 and jumping to a quick lead over USC. It made sense. USC had played 50 minutes just about 24 hours prior and there legs would naturally be a little dead. Once they got into the flow though USC took full advantage of a sloppy first half from the Boilermakers. Purdue would turn the ball over 9 times in the first half and USC would turn that into 7 points. USC also went on a 13-2 run over 4:38. During this run TKR and Josh Cohen from USC got after each other on a couple of possessions including one in which it sure looked like Cohen dove on top of TKR to get a jump ball but nothing was called. The refs have a way of changing a game and shortly after that play was reviewed, no call was made, it seemed like there was a foul called on just about every possession for a few minutes. Purdue was rattled. They looked out of sorts on both offense and defense allowing easy cuts to the basket while taking some ill-advised shots of their own.

As in all games, a hero needed to step up and for Purdue it was the pair of sophomores who cam(e) in clutch (see what I did?). Camden Heide hit a corner three to reduce the USC lead to 28-21 and then USC committed three straight turnovers that helped Purdue to climb back in this one. Camden Heide dropped in another three to cut the lead to 28-26. A nifty bucket from TKR would tie the game at 28 a piece to cap off a 10-0 Purdue run over just 2:38. It was a far cry from the way Purdue had finished previous first halves that allowed their opponents to get back into games. Myles Colvin would get a nice pass from Braden Smith to finish the scoring at 35 each. Combined, Heide and Colvin had 11 points on 3-5 from deep in the first half. It was a welcome addition given that Braden Smith finished the half with just three points.

John Wooden Memorial Player of the Game (JWMPOTG) – I know that TKR had 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists, I know that, but he didn’t earn the award tonight. Instead, this honor goes to Camden Heide. The sophomore finished the game with 9 points on 3-3 rebounding but more importantly he grabbed 11 rebounds. Purdue needed each and every one of them as Purdue barely pulled this one out.

The second half was more of the same from the first. A back and forth contest that saw each team make difficult shot after difficult shot. Purdue was led by TKR who put up the aforementioned 30 points including three very clutch free throws at the end of the game.

This was yet another Big Ten game marred by bad officiating. Many of the bad calls went in Purdue’s favor including an out of bounds call late in the second half that was clearly off of Harris but the official on the opposite side of the court came sprinting over to change the call in favor of the Boilermakers. The USC bench lost their minds and rightfully so. Of course, TKR had been fouled on the play and it wasn’t called so it all worked out I guess? There were a couple other calls that Purdue fans should be lucky were not reviewable, but that’s what we’ve come to expect from Big Ten officials this year. They tried their best to control the game by calling six fouls in the first 3:30 of the second half, but eventually a basketball game was able to break out in the middle of the ref show.

TKR took the stage during the second half despite having some foul trouble. He scored 18 points in the second half including 6-10 from the free throw line. You would love it if he would hit 10-10 but what is a Purdue basketball game without some sweat am I right? Purdue fans did plenty of that as the game was in doubt up until the final seconds in large part thanks to Desmond Claude who became a master of the midrange jumper in the second half. He was 6-13 in the second half and finished the half with 14.

Purdue would win the game in a bit of a strange way as when up three USC had the ball but slipped and fell when trying to get their final possession going. Purdue had opted not to foul and it looked like USC was playing for a final three to tie it. As the USC player fell to the court Braden Smith was able to corral the ball and was fouled to head to the line and finish up the scoring at 76-71. Smith was off shooting the ball going 3-10 from the floor but impacted the game in other ways with 9 assists and 3 rebounds.

With the victory, Purdue will remain in the hunt for a Big Ten Tournament Championship with a game tomorrow, again around 9:00 PM against the Michigan Wolverines.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH-TV) — Indiana’s population grew by 44,144 residents in 2024, reaching a total of 6.92 million. It marks the state’s largest annual increase since 2008, according to the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

The growth was primarily driven by net international migration, which accounted for 70% of the increase, according to the IBRC.

“While the size of Indiana’s growth in 2024 was similar to 2008, the drivers of change in these years were drastically different,” Matt Kinghorn, senior demographer at the Indiana Business Research Center, said in a release.

Last year, researchers found that Indiana experienced a net international migration of 30,852 residents, significantly contributing to the state’s population growth. This contrasts with 2008, when natural increase, or the difference between births and deaths, was the primary growth driver.

Indiana also recorded nearly 9,160 more births than deaths in 2024. That’s the highest level of natural increase since 2020, yet still below pre-pandemic levels.

The state also saw a net inflow of 4,268 domestic migrants. Boone and Hancock counties were the fastest-growing counties in the state, with growth rates of 3.4% and 3.1%, respectively.

The Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood metro area added 26,661 residents, accounting for 60% of the state’s net growth. Rural counties in Indiana saw a net inflow of 1,550 residents, marking the fourth consecutive year of positive net in-migration, although they experienced a natural decrease of 716 residents. Overall, 73 of Indiana’s 92 counties grew in 2024, the largest number since 1997. The state’s metropolitan areas, particularly the Indianapolis metro area, played a significant role in this growth.

Indiana’s population growth in 2024 highlights the significant impact of international migration and the continued expansion of metropolitan areas, with the Indianapolis metro area leading the way.