As expected, Purdue had absolutely no trouble with Alcorn State, running out to a 42-point halftime lead and cruising to a 103-48 victory. The triple digit point total and 55-point margin look impressive (and triggered some pundit-focused comments on Twitter from the Boiler faithful), but the efficiencies at both ends were really only a little better than those posted against Howard. The reason for the eye-popping totals is that the game was played at an extremely fast 86 possessions--Purdue's fastest tempo since at least 2002--making Purdue's defensive effort all the more impressive. Purdue held Alcorn to just 0.56 points per possession, the best defensive efficiency for the Boilermakers in nearly two years. But let's remember the context here before we hold this game up as evidence that Robbie Hummel won't be missed--this same Alcorn State squad lost to Arkansas by 62 points last season, and that certainly didn't portend a great season for the Razorbacks (7-9 in a weak SEC). Just take the game for what it is--a fun blowout win over one of the nation's worst teams.

E'Twaun Moore took advantage of the frantic tempo (the game was actually played at a 98 possession pace in his 14 minutes) to post a line of 19 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and just 2 turnovers. Purdue was +39 (!) in Moore's 14 minutes. Freshman big men Sandi Marcius and Travis Carroll enjoyed the extended playing time, combining for 20 points (10 shots) and 15 rebounds, while John Hart hit 4 of 6 from three to finish with 16 points.

Northwestern didn't have nearly as much fun in their road trip to Edinburg, but the Wildcats held on for a 77-71 win over Texas Pan-Am. This was a low-turnover shootout, with Northwestern putting up 1.26 points per possession (higher than Purdue's efficiency, incidentally). That's great and all, but the Wildcats also allowed UTPA to score at 1.16 PPP clip. UTPA isn't "Alcorn State" bad, but they're still pretty bad. In fact, the Broncs hadn't scored over a point per possession before facing Northwestern, and that was after facing Indiana State, Eastern Kentucky, and Loyola Chicago. We've said that the key for Northwestern this season is improving their defense, and the early returns aren't good.

On the bright side, Drew Crawford and John Shurna combined for 45 points on 25 shots, and a road win is a lot better than a road loss.

Tonight, we get a marquee matchup with Illinois facing Texas in Madison Square Garden (8pm CT, ESPN2). We'll have a much better idea of just how good the Illini are after tonight's and tomorrow night's games. In other action, Michigan hosts Bowling Green (6pm CT, Big Ten Network) and Minnesota faces a dangerous Western Kentucky squad in Puerto Rico (6:30pm CT, espn3.com). Now if I can only get that Little Feat song out of my head...

- Posted by Mike Portscheller