This is Our State

Tonight was the first Indiana vs. Purdue mens basketball game of the season.  Doug and I made plans to watch the game even though Cameron wouldn't be home.  He had to keep stats for the girls game this evening.  It was senior night, so we knew that he'd be late.  Cameron said that he'd watch it on his phone or catch it once he got home.  Since the IU game was in Bloomington and we had been playing pretty well recently, we were all hopeful that the Hoosiers would win.  None of us were 100% percent confident about a victory, however.  Purdue had beaten us in every game we played against them in the last five years and were currently ranked #4 in the country.  Grandpa Cutes had told us that the Boilermakers were only a three point favorite, but Doug thought that they' win by triple that.  

The game started out much the way we thought it would with Purdue taking an early lead.  Even more concerning than the score was the foul trouble that Trace Jackson-Davis found himself in after only five minutes of play.  With him on the bench, we figured that it would be pretty challenging for us to be competitive.  Thankfully, Doug and I were both wrong.  Rob Phinisee played the game of his life during the first half scoring seventeen points by the break.  We were thrilled that the Hoosiers had a nine point lead going into the locker room.

Purdue closed the gap early in the second half and Doug and I braced ourselves for their comeback win.  IU hung tough, however, and even with Jackson-Davis on the bench, we stayed with them until the very end.  Down by two with 18 seconds left, Phinisee stepped up again, taking a quick three point shot to give us the lead.  Purdue couldn't convert on their next possession, fouled us on our next trip up the court and missed a last second shot to tie when the buzzer sounded.  For the first time in a long time, the Hoosier students stormed the court. 

It was so much fun to watch Rob Phinisee hoisted onto his teammates shoulders and Mike Woodson cheering as he exited the court.  The best part for him me, however, was watching the game with Doug and rewatching it with Cameron.  It had been a long time since we had something to cheer about with IU basketball.  We had endured four years of mediocrity with Archie Miller.  It was so nice to feel good about IU basketball again.  Purdue may have stated that "This is Our State" in their school commercial during the game, but at the end, we all knew who really owned basketball in the state of Indiana.