Purdue University NCAA News

D.J. Byrd doesn't fear. Keep that in mind. He was recruited to score and make plays and, because this is a Matt Painter-coached Purdue team, to defend.

Purdue guard Kelsey Barlow, left, fouls Northwestern forward Drew Crawford in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in West Lafayette, Ind., Sunday, Feb.

The Big Ten Conference women's basketball race begins its final two weeks and more than half the league is within three games of first place. Thursday's results brought two upsets and there are more surprises to come. The 16th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers are hungry to remain atop the standings but must navigate a difficult road. 'This is our last chance,' said Brittany Rayburn, one of six seniors on the roster. 'I haven't had that taste of a regular season or tournament championship. That's something we want really bad.' Purdue (9-2) Remaining schedule: at Ohio State, today; Penn State, Thursday; at Michigan State, Feb. 19; at Michigan, Feb. 23; Indiana, Feb. 26. Key question: Is there enough offense to keep up with the Buckeyes and the Lady Lions? Analysis: Toughest schedule of the contenders, but the Boilermakers are rested after a week off. Program won seven titles in a 12-year span, but none since 2002. Need at least three wins to remain in contention. Penn State (9-3) Remaining schedule: at Northwestern, today; at Purdue, Thursday; Ohio State, Feb. 20; Minnesota, Feb. 26. Key question: Are the Lady Lions willing to play defense down the stretch? Analysis: Other than the trip to West Lafayette the schedule isn't daunting for the preseason choice by media and coaches. Beat Purdue and Ohio State and the championship likely moves to State College. Ohio State (8-3) Remaining schedule: Purdue, today; Indiana, Thursday; at Penn State, Feb. 20; Minnesota, Feb. 23; at Nebraska, Feb. 26. Key question: Can Tayler Hill and Samantha Prahalis carry the Buckeyes to the title? Analysis: After stumbling at Minnesota and Illinois, there's a question whether Ohio State can push through, especially with visits to Penn State and Nebraska. Win the home games, split on the road and the Buckeyes will be right there. Nebraska (8-3) Remaining schedule: at Minnesota, Monday; Northwestern, Thursday; Wisconsin, Feb. 19; at Michigan State, Feb. 23; Ohio State, Feb. 26. Key question: Can the Huskers score if they're not hitting 3-pointers? Analysis: Youngest team in the league will be challenged at Minnesota and Michigan State. Can't have a repeat of what happened Thursday against Michigan. Must win the home games to stay in the hunt. Michigan State (7-4) Remaining schedule: at Iowa, today; at Wisconsin, Thursday; Purdue, Feb. 19; Nebraska, Feb. 23; at Northwestern, Feb. 26. Key question: Will anyone slow down Porsche Poole, who is averaging 25.8 points the last four games? Analysis: Not a longshot but probably needs to win out to gain at least a share. Will need help but faces two contenders. Important game is today's matchup against the Hawkeyes.

Multiple maladies have plagued the Purdue basketball team this season, but none is more glaring than what has taken place at the free throw line. At 63.5 percent, the Boilermakers rank last in Big Ten Conference free throw shooting. (Nebraska leads the league with a 75.8 percentage, followed closely by Indiana at 74.9) It's not out of the question that Purdue could be 19-5 entering tonight's game against Northwestern if it was only a little more accurate from the stripe 15 feet from the basket. With a 15-9 overall record, 5-6 in the conference, the Boilermakers could be in jeopardy of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006. If Purdue had taken care of business at the line, it certainly could have 19 victories at this point and be in great shape to receive an NCAA bid. But consider this: • The Boilermakers were only 12 of 21 (57.1 percent) from the line in a 66-63 loss at Xavier on Dec. 3. • In a 67-65 loss to Butler on Dec. 17, Purdue made 7 of 12 free throws (58.3 percent). • Purdue was only 12 of 22 (54.5 percent) in a 67-62 loss to Wisconsin on Jan. 12. The Badgers were 20 of 24 (83.3 percent) from the line. • With 68 seconds remaining in the Jan. 24 game against Michigan, Boilermaker sophomore guard Terone Johnson stepped to the free throw line. Purdue trailed 65-64. If Johnson converted the one-and-one, Purdue would have the lead against a nationally ranked opponent. As his been the case throughout the season, free throw woes plagued Johnson and Purdue again. He missed the front end, and Michigan survived 66-64. As the Boilermakers prepare to play Northwestern today, Johnson is shooting 33.9 percent from the line (21 of 62). Coupled with the free throw shooting woes of freshman Jacob Lawson (34.6 percent) and redshirt freshman Anthony Johnson (48.9 percent), it's not difficult to understand why the Boilermakers are last in the league in that all-important category. Purdue has had other problems -- rebounding, the absence of strong post play, and leading scorer Robbie Hummel's shooting slump. However, the fifth-year senior continues to excel at the line. He is shooting a team-leading 80.7 percent (66 of 83). 'Those are free points ... it's why they call them free throws,' said Hummel, an 83.9 percent career free throw shooter. Last season's Purdue team was among the Big Ten's best collection of foul shooters, finishing at 71.5 percent even without Hummel, who was redshirting after undergoing a second surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. JaJuan Johnson, the Boston Celtics' first-round pick in the 2011 NBA draft, shot 80.9 percent from the line last season for the Boilermakers; second-round Celtics pick E'Twaun Moore made 70.9 percent of his foul shots. Combined, they were 269 of 350 (76.9 percent) during their senior season. Those two were proficient, yet their accuracy pales in comparison to Purdue free throw shooters of years past. The Boilermakers' 1969 NCAA tournament runners-up, led by Rick Mount and Billy Keller, set a school single-season record by making 78.2 percent of their free throws. Since the 1997-98 season, only one Purdue team has made 75 percent of its free throws -- 75.2 percent in 2002-2003. Having lost four times this season by no more than five points -- two of those were in Mackey Arena -- free throw shooting has been frustrating to almost every Boilermaker. 'I'm trying to take my time at the free throw line,' Terone Johnson said. 'Also, making them gives me more confidence for the next time I'm going up there to shoot them.' Johnson believes he has located the problem. Correcting it -- physically and mentally -- is another issue. 'I'm moving too fast sometimes when I put the shot up,' Johnson said. 'Sometimes I move fast, rather than slow it down a little bit. 'When I slow it down, I make almost all of them. Not only that, it's about not thinking about missing.' Head coach Matt Painter and assistants Jack Owens, Greg Gary and Micah Shrewsberry have worked with Johnson during practices, but the sophomore from Indianapolis North Central just can't get it right during games. Hummel, the seventh-most accurate free throw shooter in Purdue history and the only non-guard in the top nine, has used the same form since fifth grade in Valparaiso. He learned his shooting form from former Valparaiso High School coach Virgil Sweet, who developed 'The Valpo Way,' which Hummel swears by. The form centers on reducing extraneous movement during the act of shooting a free throw, hand placement on the ball, foot placement on the line and, above all -- releasing the ball the same way every time. 'It's like everything if you practice a lot,' Hummel said. 'Being from Valpo, that's something we always worked on. It was preached at the basketball camp I always attended.' Not all college players -- the 18-, 19-, 20-, 21- and 22-year-olds who have made college basketball a cottage industry -- are as fortunate as Hummel. Those who don't learn good free throw-shooting mechanics and habits in elementary or middle school often struggle to correct flaws as young adults. Could Hummel help Terone Johnson? Could he teach the struggling sophomore 'The Valpo Way?' 'I wouldn't mess with anybody's shot at midseason,' Hummel said. 'I'm sure most of the guys wouldn't want to do it anyway. 'I guess I have the knowledge to do it, but I probably would never do that.' Hummel said it became obvious early in the season that Purdue has free throw shooting issues, especially among its younger players. In a 91-90 victory on Nov. 17 against Iona in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, Purdue made only 11 of 20 free throws, including Lawson's 1 of 4. A Hummel 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining salvaged that victory. The only way to correct poor free throw shooting, according to Hummel, is to come to the gym on your own and shoot free throws again and again. 'People are putting in more time,' Hummel said. 'It's all a mental thing. It's kind of a contagious thing that is going around.' In other words, if several Boilermakers miss free throws in a game, others may become frustrated and be more likely to miss. If several combine to make eight, nine or 10 in a row, others may become more confident at the line. 'It's also getting the right guys to the line at the end of a game,' Hummel said. In seniors Hummel, Ryne Smith and Lewis Jackson -- each a good free throw shooter -- Matt Painter has a trio that he wants on the floor in the final minutes of a close game. Junior DJ Byrd, a 72 percent free throw shooter, is also on that list. In a Jan. 17 victory against Iowa, Purdue made 8 of 10 free throws during the final minute. Hummel, Jackson and Smith combined to shoot all 10. 'Any time you have guys that have been there before and have had success, you would like to see them there at the end of the game,' Painter said. Among the regular 10-man rotation, Smith is the team's second-most accurate free throw shooter at 78.3 percent. 'A lot of guys are putting in extra work,' Smith said. 'I feel like we have to do that. To win big games, you have to make free throws.' Yet as Painter -- a 65.5 percent career free throw shooter at Purdue -- says, this team continues to miss important free throws despite extra practice. 'That's what is frustrating,' Painter said. 'They have taken it to heart. What a normal fan doesn't understand is when you are the person that is working on your free throws and are still missing, it's frustrating. The general perception is that people aren't working on them, and that's the reason they are missing. Every team in the country is working on free throws. It has been frustrating, but you stay the course.' The Boilermakers are well aware that some fans -- on the Internet, Facebook and with texts and tweets -- think Purdue does not practice free throw shooting. 'I've heard that, and it's like, 'Are you serious?' ' Hummel said. 'Nobody likes to go out there and miss. It's something we all are trying to improve. 'It's not like we are ignoring the problem. When people say that, you let it go in one ear and out the other.'

Purdue is fighting for its NCAA tourney life. Losses in four of its last five games leave the Boilers on the edge, if not the brink, although there are seven regular-season games to change that.

Why does it appear that A.J. had such a bad game by the numbers? Winning by that big of a margin but not even scoring in double figures? Did he not play at all in the second half? DSR and Tyler Lewis impressed me the most.

Purdue University has produced 22 astronauts, including both the first and last men to set foot on the moon.

Taking a look at hoops news from Indiana, Purdue and the Big Ten. Fort Wayne News-Sentinel Pete DiPrimio writes that Indiana freshman center Cody Zeller kept his cool in a physical battle with Illinoiis' Meyers Leonard on Thursday night.

Have you ever watched one of those TV shows where from thousands of hopefuls, one star is born? Well, Hammer & Rails readers, here's your chance to play "starmaker" and help pick the new voice of sports in social media! XFINITY is looking for the next renowned sports social media star through its Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest.

Believe it or not, college baseball is just about a week away. Purdue begins its schedule next Friday in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge at 1pm against Cincinnati.

Purdue has hired veteran assistant Kevin Wolthausen as its new defensive line coach, the school announced Wednesday.

Since coming to Ohio State a year and a half ago, he has yet to lose at home. Even serious challenges by visiting teams - both in and out of the Big Ten - are fairly far and few between.

StatSeed is StatSheet's postseason projections for all of Division I, including the NCAA Tournament, National Invitation Tournament , College Basketball Invitational , and the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament .

Taking a look at hoops news from Indiana, Purdue and the Big Ten. Inside the Hall Alex Bozich takes an early look at Indiana's game against Illinois on Thursday.

William Buford scored a career-high 29 points and capped his night with a pivotal dunk in the final minute to power No.

Ohio State's Lenzelle Smith Jr. and Purdue's Robbie Hummel reach for a rebound during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Feb.

Kelsey Barlow is one of the most frustrating basketball players in Purdue history.

Starting linebacker Dwayne Beckford and third-leading receiver O.J. Ross were both suspended from the Little Caesars Bowl, but both will be back on the team this fall if they take care of business off the field.

Tonight our Boilermakers face perhaps their most difficult test of the season. We travel to Ohio State to face a team battling for a number one seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Matt Painter is too good a coach, the talent and experience too abundant, the recruiting too positive for today's slump to signal tomorrow's downfall.