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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 18 • 4 W hen he was a fresh- man, Rapheal Davis used to be the first guy on the court for home games, often taking the floor with an assistant coach to shoot a bunch of three-pointers pre-game. His work ethic in that phase — the extra time he's put into that area of his game — hasn't changed. What's he come up with to show for it? Not a damn thing. Prior to his recent two-game outburst from long range, Davis has been a liability as a jump-shooter, to the point opponents have stopped guarding him in order to hang back to crowd the paint. It came to the point Matt Painter actually suggested Davis stop shoot - ing unless he absolutely had to, this after the coach himself predicted prior to the season Davis would break out as a shooter this season if he could make a few early ones. Well, better late than never. Davis' shooting went a long way toward giving Purdue a chance at Illi- nois and flat-out saved its you-know- what against Iowa, as the Boilermak- ers' shed the albatross of a 13-game losing streak to ranked opponents. That anchor has been freed from the program's collective ankle, ridding it of an embarrassing streak, no matter how flawed the path to ending that spell was. Davis' three-pointer with about 45 seconds left, and eight on the shot clock, served as the game-winner for Purdue prior to its two big-moment stops on defense and Basil Smother - man's back-to-back "grown-man re- bounds" when they mattered most. Credit Davis for making a giant play in a game-deciding situation, in a phase of his game his coach prag- matically advised him to turn away from him just a few short weeks ago. Davis has filled a void for Purdue at the perfect time. Purdue's shooting, of which it was supposed to have so much more over last season, has run dry, a crippling blow to its offensive mix. It had better turn around. Kendall Stephens needs to make shots, nine-fingered or not. So do Dakota Mathias, Vince Edwards and, to a lesser extent, P.J. Thompson, because Purdue isn't whole offensively when they're not. And a lot of these opportunities are wide-open ones. Purdue can't continue to punt away wide-open scoring opportunities, especially when it's not rebounding well. Davis has masked the issue to a certain extent — those Boilermak - ers wearing a number other than 35 are a combined 4-of-32 the past two games — but there is no guarantee whatsoever that this is a sustainable run for him personally, as opposed to being a short-term hot hand that could burn out as quickly as it lit up. If that day comes Wednesday, Purdue will be left high and dry unless something changes. IU will zone the Boil - ermakers into oblivion to make up for their low-major- type dearth of size; Purdue did some great things in zone offense against Iowa, but its inability to make a jump shot rendered so much of it irrelevant. As so Purdue got by by the skin of its teeth for the second time in three games, its Houdini act against Penn State being the other. The Boilermakers have to be better. Opportunity after op - portunity lie ahead in a Big Ten in which there's no game from here on out that's not winnable. But the Boilermakers have to be better. Rebounding has inexplicably fallen off, as has the shooting from three-point range and the foul line alike. Freshmen who were so good in November and December have of- ten looked like freshmen in January. Defense is better, but prone to lapses, like the late run of a dozen consecutive points that made six- point-per-game Iowa guard Mike Gesell look for a few minutes like a young Steve Nash. And now Stephens might be a shell, might not be. Time will tell. Opportunities are many from here on out, but even though it is winning, Purdue, if you ask me, doesn't look like a team positioned to capitalize. j Neubert can be contacted at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com F R O M E D I T O R B R I A N N E U B E R T Shooting Star