Congratulations to the #11 Purdue men’s basketball team, on their clinching a share of the 2018-19 Big Ten Championship after defeating Northwestern, 70-57, at Welsh-Ryan Arena today. That gives them a record-setting 24th league title, and approximately 1/5 of all the Big Ten regular season conference titles that have been awarded.
Here is video of the final seconds ticking away, and the moment the Boilers officially became champs. Below that, you’ll find video of the trophy exiting the court.
#b1g title #24 becomes official for #Purdue ????? #BoilerUp #HammerDown pic.twitter.com/7IJhTr794Q
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) March 9, 2019
#b1g trophy exits the court at Welsh-Ryan Arena. #BoilerUp #HammerDown ?????? #Purdue pic.twitter.com/TWXOiZmrOX
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) March 9, 2019
Purdue will share the league title with the winner of the Michigan at Michigan State game tonight. Purdue will be the #2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which starts on Wednesday. The Boilermakers achieved 16 Big Ten victories for just the second time in school history (1987-88 season).
We’ll have quotes from Matt Painter and Nojel Eastern later tonight, most likely audio and video too. Painter was excellent in his press conference today, he had a lot of insightful and thoughtful things to say.
Great stuff from Matt Painter today about the overrating of recruit rankings and recruiting class rankings; again. Looking forward to working on that stuff this week for the #B1GTourney #b1g Some great quotes and soundbites to work with
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) March 9, 2019
I've always been on the same page as Matt Painter with this….I've been saying for years, beware the nefarious influence of the recruiting service-industrial complex https://t.co/BaIKDAywyo
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) March 9, 2019
Northwestern head coach Chris Collins gave a very meaningful press conference as well. He got very emotional when he addressed the media, one because it was senior day and two because he saw one of the cornerstone players of his program, senior forward Vic Law, go down with a gruesome looking knee injury.
More will be known about the extent of Law’s injury once testing and scans are complete.
Chris Collins has been uncharacteristically very emotional during this whole presser, when discussing #Northwestern seniors. Adds that he broke his foot on his senior day vs North Carolina, and that he had to be carried off the floor too. #B1GCats #DUKEvsUNC #UNCvsDUKE
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) March 9, 2019
Vic Law was bleeding after the game, a pretty deep cut, but the good news is that he was walking after the game.
Chris Collins: "If there is a way for him to keep playing, he will… he's going through the tests and we'll find out"
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) March 9, 2019
Here’s video of the Chris Collins media session:
Vic Law goes down with a serious looking leg injury. Had to be carried off the court. pic.twitter.com/s80zJyhdnj
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) March 9, 2019
As a fellow south suburbanite, and appreciator of good interviews, I've been a big fan of Vic Law these past 4 years. That really hurt to watch, and I would hate to see his career end like this.
Hoping for good news in postgame presser https://t.co/BMEJJkwbcl— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) March 9, 2019
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.