Purdue vs. Florida Deathmatch Live Blog: Second Half

As CBS takes me to a live look in, it appears as though Wisconsin is trying to prove everyone who thought the Big Ten was overrated right. Shouldn't they have learned something from Friday's game? Maybe they just really aren't that good...

As the second half opens, Purdue is dodging some bullets as Florida just can't seem to knock down open shots. We're gonna need that to continue if we want to hang onto this lead, I think.

Teague puts it high, high, high off the glass to put Purdue up by 4, prompting Raftery's signature "The Kiss!" (he follows it up by commentating on a replay: "And a smooch to boot!"). It just wouldn't be the tournament without Billy Raftery, I don't think...

Ohhhh... Carl Landry just had a mammoth block on Noah. Too bad it came after Joakim was fouled. Either way, the message is the same: get that shit outta here, Joakim!

Man, Florida has really clamped down on D. Purdue's just not getting many good looks at all. Carl Landry just looked like he was throwing up a prayer in his driveway there. Not good. And before you know it, Florida leads for the first time since a couple minutes into the game. Sigh... Florida is starting to look a lot more like Florida and Purdue is starting to look like... well... Purdue.

If Purdue loses this game by less than 5, they'll have no one but themselves to blame. They're now 4-10 from the line. Where's Matt Waddell when you need him?

Ouch. 5 point deficit after 2 poorly defended 3s from Florida. This one's slipping away and Matt Painter knows it; he calls a timeout.

That's at least the second shot of Joakim Noah's pops in the crowd, and I gotta say, Yannick Noah is a badass. He looks like he came straight from a Funkadelic concert. Joakim, on the other hand, looks like he came straight from an Indigo Girls concert.

Oh man, David Teague had a great series there. Had a 3 rattle out, chased down the offensive board, and then drove the lane with authority for a two. No one else touched the ball the whole time. Everyone else, including Florida, just watched.

Billy Raftery has got a ferret in his pants about a foul called on Noah as he hacked Landry. Yeah, it was probably just good D, but Purdue needed that bad. Oh wait, on the replay, Landry obviously got hacked. Raftery, supposedly looking at the same video I am, says disgustedly, "Aww, that was all ball. All ball." I call bullshit, Billy, you Noah-lover.

Carl Landry is all that is man. And the game is tied.

That's the 15th Florida turnover. And it's not so much Purdue's D as Florida's shitty passing. How many turnovers do they average on the year? This has to be an anomaly.

Now Chris Kramer is all that is man. Wow. Way to drive the lane. He's like the white Porter Roberts. Or something.

As soon as Gage and I comment on Purdue's recent lack of turnovers and fouling, they turn it over and foul. Great. And now Florida's back up by 5 in the blink of an eye. Fix it, Matt Painter, fix it.

Joakim Noah almost broke his ass after taking a hard foul--Kramer just scooted his butt into Noah as he was coming down from a board. Kinda funny.

Chris Lutz is taking lessons from Chris Kramer, driving the lane against Joakim Noah and sinking a layup.

Carl Landry just confused a Florida defender for the basket, turning it over instead of taking a shot. Now Florida can go up 6 with under 3 minutes to go. Purdue's really gotta lock down on D and get some decent shots on their offensive end or Florida's going to run away with this one at the end.

Well--one minute Purdue is down by 3, the next they're down by 7 with Florida on the line. That's pretty much the ballgame--it'll be the free throw game from her on out.

It ended up being the outcome that everyone expected, but I gotta say Purdue looked A LOT better than I thought they might. A great game for the young kids to build on for next year, and certainly not a shabby way for Landry and Teague to finish their careers. Maybe I'll be inspired to try and catch more than a handful of Purdue games next year.

Here's hoping Butler has a little more magic than Purdue and the Bulldogs are able to knock of the big dog later this week.