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Painter, Izzo both peeved at fan who yelled for another Hummel injury

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Mike Miller

College kids occasionally say stupid things. Wishing Robbie Hummel sustains a third ACL tear is one of them.

That’s why Purdue coach Matt Painter got into a heated exchange with members of the Izzone, Michigan State’s student section during an 83-58 loss Saturday. He wasn’t about to tolerate anything that insensitive directed toward his senior star, who missed the end of the 2009-10 season and all of last season because of two ACL tears.

“I think the Izzone is great,” Painter told reporters afterward. “But if they’re going to say, ‘I hope you tear your ACL again,’ I’m going to say something. He doesn’t deserve that.”

Damn straight. Hummel’s one of the game’s good guys. He’s a talented player who’s done nothing but continue his college career through perseverance and hard work. It’d be easy to quit when your classmates graduate and your senior season isn’t turns another test. Purdue’s now 10-9.

Hummel says he ignored the comment – “I couldn’t give a crap what the Izzone says,” he said – but MSU coach Tom Izzo offered up a telling quote.

“I would throw the guy out of here who said something like that,” Izzo said. “If he wants to talk about his grandmother I wouldn’t like it, but I’d deal with it. If he wants to talk about an injury and a kid who’s been through so much, I’d try to find out who it was and make sure that he buys his ticket elsewhere.”

I have no doubt Izzo would do that, either. If an opposing fan ripped Delvon Roe (the former Spartan who had to retire because of lingering knee injuries), Izzo would almost certainly let the offending fan have it.

(Thanks to Jeff Eisenberg).

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