Cline's impressive second half sparks upset over No. 13 Wisconsin
Isaac Haas and Ryan Cline have a debate about the title of “best screener” for Purdue.
Haas feels like he solidified his point Sunday, freeing Cline up for a pivotal jumper in the second half during a spurt that sparked the No. 20 Boilermakers’ victory over No. 13 Wisconsin in Mackey Arena.
Cline reminded his 7-foot-2 teammate that he can set good screens “for a little guy.”
Surely that was something Cline did against the Badgers — even if it may have gone unnoticed — because he did about everything. Especially in the second half, when he not only scored seven consecutive points but also grabbed three rebounds, had two assists and had a steal in 15 minutes.
“I thought Ryan had a good fight to him the whole game,” Coach Matt Painter said. “I thought he stuck his nose in there and got some rebounds for us and some loose balls. I thought he defended well. He was just aware of what was going on offensively and defensively. Then, obviously, making those shots for us in that stretch was huge.”
Despite missing his only shot attempt in the first half, Cline was prominent in a crucial second-half stretch.
Wisconsin missed a layup with a chance to pull within two points about six minutes into the half, and P.J. Thompson came down to stick a three-pointer after Haas kicked it out after an offensive rebound.
Cline got a rebound at the other end after an Ethan Happ miss, and then Purdue called Cline's number.
Dakota Mathias dribbled into the left side wing, and Cline trailed from the right side, so when Mathias turned to feed him, Cline was waiting off a screen from Swanigan. He came off a curl, caught and shot with a hand in his face.
On Wisconsin’s next possession, Cline slipped onto the baseline to steal the ball from Alex Illikanien and brought the ball up the court. Mathias got it again and dribbled hard into the left corner, but he got stopped. No worries. Cline, again, was coming toward him hard on the left wing. Mathias fed Cline, and he drilled a three-pointer from the wing to push it to an 8-0 run.
After Happ couldn’t get a shot to go over Haas in the post, Cline crashed to get another rebound.
He once again was rewarded for the hustle.
Off an inbound, Haas set a screen near the wing, freeing up Cline for an open jumper — maybe his only clean look of the three shots — and a basket for a 50-36 lead.
“Ryan got hot,” said Caleb Swanigan, who had another double-double with 18 and 13 “We ran three plays in a row for him, and he hit all three. You want it to happen that way every game.”
So would Cline.
He’s had his moments in Year 2, but he hadn’t shown much offensively other than a three-point touch and hadn't quite put together a collective effort like he did Sunday. His four rebounds tied a season high, and the steal was only his third of the season.
Sunday also was the first time all season Cline made more than one two-point field goal in a game. He was 2-for-3 on such shots, though both jumpers, and he also had a hard drive to the basket in the second half that nearly went in. (Swanigan was there for the tip-in.)
Purdue seemed to be running its guards off more ball screens and curling more than usual, and it worked.
For Cline especially.
“It’s kind of just like in the flow of the offense,” Cline said of his hot streak. “Coach Paint and Coach (Greg) Gary, they were drawing plays up for me and we were really executing them well. Just a little bit of daylight.
“It was just lucky I knocked them down.”
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