Purdue Star Robbie Hummel Out For Season With Torn ACL

Losing Robbie Hummel for the season certainly hurts Purdue’s chances of winning a Big Ten title. But as ESPN.com’s Andy Katz writes, the jury is still out as to how Hummel’s injury affects the Boilermakers’ tournament seed.

[NCAA tournament selection committee chair Dan] Guerrero didn’t want to get into the specifics of Purdue’s case, but did acknowledge that there was an assumption among the public that Purdue is in contention for a No. 1 seed. Of course, that’s subject to change depending on what happens from now until when the committee convenes.

“What if that team were to win its conference, win its postseason tournament and was knocking off quality teams?” Guerrero said. “Why wouldn’t you take that into consideration.”

In 2000, Cincinnati was on its way to a No. 1 seed. But the Bearcats lost Kenyon Martin, the country’s best player, to a broken leg in a loss to Saint Louis in the Conference USA tournament. The committee gave Cincinnati a No. 2 seed and it lost to No. 7 seed Tulsa in the second round.

Normally, taking away a team’s best player would be detrimental enough to send them spiraling downward, as noted in the Kenyon Martin example. However, Purdue doesn’t necessarily rely on Hummel as much as the Bearcats relied on Martin. Matt Painter’s team is very balanced, and while they won’t be near the same team that they were with Hummel on the floor, they’re not exactly about to become pushovers either. E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson can vouch for that.

It’s official: Purdue forward Robbie Hummel will miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL during Wednesday’s win over Minnesota. According to Fox’s Jeff Goodman, Purdue confirmed the injury in a press release after Hummel underwent an MRI on Thursday afternoon.

With Hummel gone, the most immediate question is what this will do for Purdue’s tournament prospects. Before Hummel’s injury, Purdue was a bona fide Final Four contender and on track to be a No. 1 seed. Absent his shot-making and rebounding, Purdue seems likely to be more of a Sweet 16-caliber team now.

The initial report from Fox Sports is that Purdue star Robbie Hummel has a torn ACL, suffered in Wednesday night’s win at Minnesota. Hummel suffered the injury in the first half after his leg slipped while driving to the basket.

This is obviously a huge loss for No. 3 Purdue, a team that was contending for a No. 1 seed in next month's NCAA Tournament and had realistic Final Four hopes. Our Purdue site, Hammer And Rails, writes that without Hummel, the Boilermakers are merely good, but can't be great:

No one does all the little things that Robbie does. If Kramer is the heart of the team, Robbie is the brains. He grabs a rebound here, hits a three there, has the perfect pass at the right time. He closes games at the line. He sets screens. He moves without the ball. Look at the Illinois game: His shot wasn't falling, so he willed his way to the line. He is a mismatch for almost every team we face offensively and defensively he is underrated. We're still a good team without him, but with him we are great.

Purdue still has a solid line-up, with guard E'Twaun Moore and center JaJuan Johnson, but taking out a 15 and 7 player, who also happens to be the team leader, is a massive blow.