_______________________, read first time and referred to Committee on
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION congratulating the Purdue
University men's basketball team on winning the Big Ten tournament
championship.
Whereas, The Purdue University's men's basketball team,
under the direction of head coach Matt Painter, claimed its
first conference tournament championship;
Whereas, The 65 - 61 victory over Ohio State University
was a hard fought battle for the Boilermakers;
Whereas, In defeating Penn State and Illinois to reach the
final game, the Boilermakers were red hot;
Whereas, However, during the first 36 and a half minutes
against Ohio State, Purdue seemed to lose its shooting touch;
Whereas, Ohio State led 33-27 early in the second half
before Purdue went on a run;
Whereas, A three-point shot by E'Twaun Moore and a
putback by Robbie Hummel narrowed the lead to one point,
then JaJuan Johnson tied the game by making the second of
two free throws with 15:44 to play;
Whereas, Purdue finally took the lead on a three-point shot
by E'Twaun Moore making the score 43-41 with just over 12
minutes to play;
Whereas, Another three-point shot by E'Twaun Moore less
than two minutes later made the score 48-41;
Whereas, With 1:33 left to play, Ohio State had narrowed
the lead to 58-55;
Whereas, Moore missed a free throw, then Turner
converted a three-point play at the other end to make it 61-58
with 16.7 seconds remaining;
Whereas, Chris Kramer was fouled with 14.7 seconds left
and made both free throws to extend Purdue's lead to 63-58;
Ohio State missed a three-point shot at the other end,
Kramer rebounded and made two more free throws to ensure
the victory;
Whereas, Purdue shot only 34.9 percent from the floor, but
E'Twaun Moore picked up the slack with his long range
shooting, hitting five of 10 from behind the arc, earning him
a team-high of 17 points;
Whereas, JaJuan Johnson scored 16 points, and Robbie
Hummel added nine points, 11 rebounds, and five assists for
the Boilermakers;
Whereas, Purdue outrebounded Ohio State 44-33,
including an 18-5 edge in offensive rebounds;
Whereas, The Purdue Boilermakers lived up to their
preseason prediction of conference favorites;
Whereas, However, the road to the Big Ten tournament
championship was a little harder than originally expected;
Whereas, The Boilermakers endured a season of injuries
and illnesses and a late-season losing skid that dropped them
to a number three seed entering the Big Ten tournament;
Whereas, Coach Matt Painter felt the Boilermakers "were
up to the challenge" and that with determination and hard
work anything is possible; and
Whereas, The Purdue University Boilermakers enjoyed another successful season, culminating in the Big Ten
tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA
tournament: Therefore,
SECTION 1. That the members of the Indiana General Assembly
commend and congratulate the Purdue University men's basketball
team and head coach Matt Painter for their hard work and dedication
in winning their first Big Ten tournament championship for which we
share the pride of the citizens of Indiana.
SECTION 2. That the Principal Clerk of the House of
Representatives transmit a copy of this resolution to each member of
the Boilermakers team, head coach Matt Painter, athletic director
Morgan Burke, and President France A. Cordova.