It's amazing what a few minutes of late game chaos can do to try and alter a narrative.

Purdue, in a five point win over Illinois, thoroughly dominated the Fighting Illini in Mackey Arena on Friday night. While the final score indicates a competitive game, and suggests two teams on equal footing, for most of the game, it was very clear that Purdue was the superior team even with its star Zach Edey sitting on the bench in foul trouble for long stretches of the game.

While it was not Purdue's finest five minutes to close a game, and that's an issue that's plagued past Purdue teams, it's hard to really equate this with seasons past. Purdue didn't score a field goal in the final five minutes, but the offensive wasn't let down in the way Purdue offenses in the past were - inability to create action, inability to dribble the ball, or overwhelmed by length or athleticism.


Instead, Purdue missed two open three-point looks and then a bunch of front ends of free throws. Not great, but not a concerning or particularly convincing trend. Purdue shot near 80% from the line that game and Edey's three missed free throws in general were an aberration. He's one of the best big man free throws shooters in history.

The problem that was exposed against Illinois was on the defensive end where Purdue's kryptonite showed itself again.