NCAA Tournament Preview: Hummel takes center stage as Purdue prepares for Connecticut

Time and TV: Thurs., March 26, 7:07 p.m. ET, CBS

 
Of the twelve teams left in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, only two possess seeds lower than four, and the Purdue Boilermakers are one of them. In order for the fifth seed to topple No. 1 Connecticut in Thursday's West Regional semifinal, Coach Matt Painter's ballclub needs to find "One Shining Moment" from its star players.
 
Enter Robbie Hummel.
 
The forward's season has been held back by a number of injuries, and in last Saturday's exhilarating win over Washington, Hummel took a nasty spill while typically selling out for a loose ball in the corner of the court. The bold and ballsy Boilermaker was seen holding the shoulder that has nagged and haunted him for much of 2009, so a healthier Hummel might not be 100 percent when his team takes on a bunch of Huskies for the second straight game. The Washington variety of the northern dog has been tamed, but here comes a sled full of Huskies that will be even harder to handle, the imposing and powerful crew from Connecticut. No matter how fit he'll be for this fistfight in Glendale, Ariz., Hummel simply has to gather all his strength. He'll need it against Jim Calhoun's juggernaut.
 
Connecticut's season, once ascendant, became shrouded in doubt when perimeter shooter Jerome Dyson was lost for the season with an injury in February. The Huskies' production noticeably dipped, enough to keep the Huskies from claiming even a share of the Big East regular season championship. When UConn fell to Syracuse in a six-overtime Big East quarterfinal classic, the whispers of worry surrounding the program grew louder.
 
Those voices of concern, however, were silenced over the past weekend. In two authoritative performances, the Huskies showed no signs of weakness, as they pulled two "Conn jobs" against overmatched foes. Connecticut drilled Chattanooga and Texas A&M by a combined total of 82 points to roll into the Sweet 16 without breaking much of a sweat. This is a powerhouse team, and not the paper-thin top seed some people viewed UConn to be at the start of the NCAA Tournament. Purdue will need its very best game to shoot down these studs from Storrs.

It's worth noting, at this point, that favorites in the NCAA Tournament often need role players to contribute, while underdogs have to have their main men provide most of the production. Memphis and Michigan State, to use just two examples, wouldn't be in the Sweet 16 if role players such as Roburt Sallie and Travis Walton hadn't come up with uncommonly good offensive performances. When weaker teams throw all their effort into taking away a primary scoring option on a superior club, the heavyweight needs to throw punches from different angles. Memphis and Michigan State possessed stars who were thoroughly scouted, but when the likes of Sallie and Walton shot the ball well, there was no defense available for the teams from Northridge and USC.
 
The calculus is different from the underdog's perspective.
 
The great underdog runs in NCAA Tournament history emerge when the big dog takes a team on his back and compensates for any limitations at other spots on the floor. Danny Manning did this with Kansas in 1988. Glen Rice did the deed with Michigan in 1989. Mike Bibby went wild for fourth-seeded Arizona in its magical romp to the 1997 championship, and Carmelo Anthony--like Bibby, a freshman--simply told his Syracuse teammates to climb aboard for a run to the championship in 2003. Heavyweights need second and third options when their prime players are taken away; underdogs have to have the prime players perform, no matter the cost. This is why Hummel is the man of the moment heading into this extremely attractive Sweet 16 showdown.
 
Before saying anything more about Hummel himself, consider the other matchups that will emerge in this confrontation. Purdue center JaJuan Johnson has been a tower of strength for the Boilermakers all season long, but in University of Phoenix Stadium, he'll face a counterpart who will tower over him, in the form of 7-foot-3 giant Hasheem Thabeet. Johnson's only scoring opportunities will come from midrange jumpers; his low-post game simply won't be able to work against the shot-blocking Thabeet. As long as Johnson holds his own and can come close to breaking even in his matchup, Painter and the rest of Purdue's staff will be happy.

On the perimeter, Purdue's task is also a defensive one. UConn point guard A.J. Price hit 8-of-16 shots, 4-of-7 from 3-point range, in last Saturday's 92-66 win over Texas A&M, proving that the Huskies can shoot the ball from long distance even without the sorely-missed Dyson. E'Twaun Moore and Keaton Grant love to shoot the three in their own right, but their first mission is to clamp down on Price and shooting guard Craig Austrie. All in all, most of the matchups in this game will place pressure on Purdue to defend. In light of such a dynamic, it's up to Hummel to be the Boilermakers' primary scorer.
 
Hummel should find himself up against UConn's bruising forward, Jeff Adrien. The Huskies' other imposing interior player is a formidable defender and rebounder who helps Thabeet on the glass and crowds the middle for Connecticut. However, Adrien is not used to defending people on the perimeter, and much as Johnson can stick midrange jumpers to draw Thabeet away from the goal, Hummel can pull Adrien to the 3-point arc. If Hummel can hit a few early threes, Connecticut's defense will have to chase and extend, opening up driving lanes for Purdue's guards and some opportunities to get Thabeet out of position with good ball movement. Hummel will be helped by the fact that Adrien, who relies on a 15-foot jumper from the elbows for the bulk of his scoring, is not a polished back-to-the-basket scorer. Adrien likes to face the basket and shoot near the foul line, which should take pressure off Hummel as a defender. As long as he contains Adrien and helps out with team rebounding, Hummel will have done his job at the defensive end. It is at the offensive end where Purdue's superstar needs to do a lot of damage to the West Region's highest-seeded team.
 
Connecticut shot 58 percent from the field in its last game, and that naturally shouldn't happen against Purdue. With that said, this New England-based set of Huskies represents the biggest obstacle to a Final Four run for the lads of West Lafayette. If Robbie Hummel can shoot the ball straight and true for the balance of 40 minutes, especially from 3-point range, the Boilers can make a racket in a shaken West bracket.

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