On a night when IU turned the page from football to hoops, the Hoosiers had their best night yet

Meanwhile, Purdue, losers of three straight, currently find themselves at a crossroads.

Maybe it’s just me, but after watching the national champion IU football team suck all the oxygen out of the room for months on end, it felt like the IU basketball team just started their season in earnest Monday night against Purdue.

It’s not that we haven’t been paying attention – IU fans would care about hoops if the planet was in the throes of the apocalypse – but Hoosiers’ fandom has lacked the kind of ardor and single-minded focus that’s usually dedicated to IU hoops.

We were reminded again of the football team’s incredible feat – the team was introduced to the Assembly Hall crowd prior to the game – but watching the game, listening to the crowd, it looked and sounded like Hoosier Nation had turned the page.

Good timing, then, for IU to play its best game and earn its most important win of the season Monday night over No. 12-but-flailing Purdue, beating the Boilers, 72-67.

Let’s be clear: Until Monday night, the Hoosiers were headed into “First Four Out” territory in all the NCAA Tournament brackets – or worse. They hadn’t won a single Quad 1 game, hadn’t beaten anybody of great consequence, although they played their best road game of the year Friday while beating the brakes off of struggling Rutgers in their gym.