Davis gets one he's been waiting for, plays key role against Spartans
The first half? Nearly flawless.
The second? Barely good.
The end? Practically perfect.
Rapheal Davis had been yapping to his Purdue teammates since the summer about how badly he wanted to beat Michigan State in his final season. And in the Boilermakers’ only regular-season chance to do so Tuesday, Davis made sure he wasn’t just talk.
The senior guard tied a career-high with 24 points, set a career high with six three-pointers and sealed an upset victory over the No. 8 Spartans with a free throw in the final seconds of overtime.
Purdue’s 82-81 victory snapped a seven-game losing streak to Michigan State — more than spanning Davis’ career with the Boilermakers.
So this one? A bit hard to find the right words for the guy who hardly ever has that problem.
The outspoken, fiery leader called it “great” five times.
For good reason.
“Playing Michigan State is like playing IU to me,” Davis said. “It’s a little bit more than playing IU to me. They’re a good team. Coach Izzo is a great coach. They’ve got good players. It felt great to go out there and get a win, only playing them once in the regular-season this year.
“It was crazy, but it felt great.”
He added “unbelievable,” too.
That word fit in another way — it’s the same Matt Painter used to describe Davis’ play.
Davis made 7-of-10 shots in the first half, including all five of his three-pointers. Only 11 days ago, he hit four three-pointers to snap a funk from the perimeter. But even with that, hitting all five in one half?
“Give Davis credit — the guy’s shooting 29 percent and he hits five for five in the first half. That’s what tough guys do, though,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "They make plays. I’ve loved that kid all of his career here because he’s a tough kid.”
Davis certainly needed to display some kind of toughness — mostly of the mental variety — after halftime. Because in the second half, he lost the magic touch offensively. Davis missed 10 of his 11 shots, though the one make was a three-pointer late in the shot clock with a player in his face.
He guarded well — that’s a constant for the defending conference Defensive Player-of-the-Year — especially against Bryn Forbes, helping limit MSU’s sharp shooter without a three in the second half on four attempts.
But Davis' offensive mojo seemed gone.
“In the second half, he lost his mind,” said Painter, not entirely jokingly. “I love him. But he lost his mind. He went back to the Dwayne Wade off-one-leg runner that weren’t there, about five of them. It makes for a good rebounding drill.
“But Rapheal, he’s resilient. He’s tough. He’s about us. Any time we’ve struggled while he’s been here, he’s always been a part of our solution. You know the next day he wakes up thinking about what can we do to get better? What can we do for Purdue to win? And it matters to him.”
So Painter put the ball in the guy’s hands who so desperately has wanted to carry the team on his back, from a leadership standpoint always but from a bigger perspective Tuesday.
With a chance to win at the end of overtime, Painter called a timeout and was going to get the ball to Davis after a screen and a handoff from A.J. Hammons. Hammons did get the ball to Davis, but Denzel Valentin got too eager on the screen and tried to plow through. It drew a foul and sent Davis to the line with 4.6 seconds left in a tie game.
He made the first for a one-point lead. He claims he missed the second on purpose — Painter says he didn’t tell him to — but Purdue got a great hustle play from Vince Edwards to slip in and tip the rebound, and Hammons chased it down and hung on at the buzzer.
It sealed the special moment for Davis.
“Being 1-for-(11) in the second half, it just showed Coach still had the trust in me to give me the ball in the closing seconds,” Davis said. “I knew I could either get a basket or get fouled. But going to the free throw line, it’s one of those moments you feel like everything cancels out. You’ve been trying to do this your whole life, and I was able to step up and make a free throw for my teammates.
“They deserved it. I deserved it. Coach deserved it. Losing to a team seven straight times, we all deserved it. To be able to go out there and make a shot as a senior, it’s what you’re supposed to do as a senior leader.
“It felt great to go out there and just play well and play hard.”
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