Purdue passes its first road test.
A lot will and can be made of Purdue's closer than anticipated win against a struggling Florida State team. It was not a pretty win. It was not nearly as dominant a win as the one's Purdue collected in Portland against Duke and Gonzaga.
But it was a road win on the back end of a hellacious week of travel. Purdue's freshman played against their first hostile crowd, and Braden Smith found himself controlling the game late again.
The team as a whole move to 7-0. Four of those having come in the last week. They arrived early this morning after a travel delay in Des Moine that caused the team to arrive around 2:30 in the morning.
There's plenty of reasons for Purdue to have given this game up entirely. They'll get no style points against Florida State, but if you expected style points in this game, you haven't watched many Leonard Hamilton teams.
Purdue could have easily caved to Florida State's unique defense, the quick turn around, or the pressure of now being a #5 team on the country. They might not have covered an inflated spread, but they won on the road late by making plays.
Oh, and a whole lot of the best player in the country.