Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue Basketball Tickets - Without Hummel, Boilers Take A Plunge

Purdue University's men's basketball team took a turn for the worse heading into the final stretch of the regular season in what Indianapolis Star sports columnist Bob Kravitz summed up in a five-word description: "a shame, a damned shame." The unfortunate incident he's referring to is, of course, the fact that Purdue's star player Robbie Hummel will be sitting the sidelines for the rest of the season, all but dashing the Boilermakers' shot at a national title.

Hummel brought gasps to the basketball court after landing wrong on a 12-foot jump shot toward the end of Purdue's Feb. 24 game at Minnesota, tearing his ACL and putting an immediate stop to the rest of his junior season. Purdue instantly took a nosedive down the NCAA polls despite the final win against the Gophers, and the decline worsened on Feb. 28, when Michigan State snapped the Boilers' 10-game winning streak.

With E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson missing the third piece of their extremely powerful tripod, there was just something missing on the court despite Purdue's hustle in the Feb. 28 game against the Spartans. Seniors Chris Kramer and Keaton Grant stepped up to help aid the team effort of filling Hummel's gap on the basketball court, but after a solid first-half run the Boilermakers proved no match for Michigan State's much bigger rebounding and offense, slipping to a 53-44 loss.

Purdue's Mackey Arena was introduced to LWH (Life Without Hummel) on Feb. 28, and the results were less than dazzling. Johnson and Moore had trouble getting inside the paint and Kramer lost the ball about as many times as he got a steal, with Robbie Hummel looking on from the bench as his team ran out of steam. The Boilermakers were ultimately not strong enough to ward off Raymar Morgan and Kalin Lucas, and now they've sacrificed that hard-fought No. 3 national ranking going into the final week of playtime before the Big Ten Tournament commences.

Despite Hummel's absence for the rest of the season, Purdue is still a good basketball team – but do good basketball teams win national titles? Hardly. What could have been Purdue's golden year has turned awry, but in the meantime the NCAA Tournament is just getting started, meaning the Boilermakers can come back from a very close loss to the Spartans and still give the big dance their best jig.

Illinois basketball coach Bruce Weber told ESPN not to count Purdue out just yet when it comes to the Big Ten, saying, "They can still win the Big Ten championship. It's definitely within reach, and that's what he's [Matt Painter] got to focus on right now."

Indeed, this isn't the first time Robbie Hummel has gone MIA on the basketball court. Last season, Hummel fought to recover from a broken bone in his back for much of the season, and the Boilermakers still posted a solid run in the NCAA Tournament. This year, Purdue's basketball team is enduring yet another Hummel-induced setback, but Purdue basketball fans are still ready to cheer on the black and gold through the tourney, hopeful for the team to focus on what (or who) is on the court and not getting distracted by that which is absent.

Basketball fans are snapping up Purdue basketball tickets from StubHub to games the rest of this season, and even with Matt Painter's Boilermakers falling to the No. 6 spot in the polls to start off the month of March, Purdue fans will still 'Boiler Up' going into March Madness – and for the record, the madness has already begun.

About the Author

This article is sponsored by StubHub.com and was written by Jenna Jay. StubHub is a leader in the business of selling Purdue basketball tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.