'The Environment Shocked Some of Us': Turnovers, Free Throws Cost Purdue in Loss At Indiana

Purdue suffered its second loss of the season on Saturday, a 79-74 loss to Indiana at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. 16 turnovers and a 10-for-17 afternoon at the free throw line was costly, and coach Matt Painter thought his team lacked concentration and mental toughness in a difficult road environment.

Jack Ankony | Feb 4, 2023

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Purdue coach Matt Painter anticipated a physical game on Saturday against Indiana. In preparation, he said he had his team foul each other in practice and "make it impossible."

The Hoosiers delivered the physical play Painter expected – Indiana finished with 19 fouls to Purdue's 16 – but his team didn't respond well to that when game time arrived.

"That didn't work," Painter said. "I think it's the combination of their approach and also the environment, sometimes guys get emotionally drunk and lose it. But you've got to give them credit. They do a good job of pressuring, and it's hard. Who cares? Who cares what's going on out there? Handle it. Handle it. Like don't worry about it. It's just a basketball game. If it gets physical, it gets physical. You've got to be able to play. If they start calling things close, you've got to be able to adjust and play. That's just part of it, and we didn't do it."

The result was a 79-74 loss inside a raucous Assembly Hall, marking No. 1 Purdue's second loss of the season. Indiana led the rest of the way after a Trey Galloway 3-pointer at the 17:59 mark of the first half, and the 15-point lead the Hoosiers established at halftime was too much to overcome despite Purdue's comeback efforts. "I think in the first half, the environment kind of shocked some of us,' Purdue center Zach Edey said.

"We've been in some hornet's nests," Painter said. "We've been on the road and played in some real tough places like Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State. In my mind, I've always felt this is the toughest place even though we've had some success."

It was Purdue senior guard David Jenkins Jr.'s first game at Assembly Hall, and he thought Indiana's strong start was a difference maker.

"I'm new to the rivalry, but obviously you could tell how intense it was," Jenkins said. "They came out ready to go, and I don't think we came out as ready as they did."

At 22-2 and 10-2 in conference play, the Boilermakers' goals are still in front of them, but Painter feels this is a loss they could have avoided if it weren't for 16 turnovers and a 10-for-17 afternoon at the free-throw line.

"Our guys were resilient," Painter said. "They battled back, but not good enough. Not making our free throws, turning the basketball over. You out-rebound somebody by 16 and you got somebody who gets 33 and 18, you should win the game. That should have been ours. But give them credit, they made more plays than us down the stretch."

Painter attributed the turnover problems to not concentrating and not being tough. Purdue entered the game wanting to force Indiana to score against half-court defense, but many of these turnovers led to easy buckets. Indiana finished the game with 20 points off turnovers and 12 fast break points.

Painter felt a big night was in store for Edey, who scored 33 points and 18 rebounds. He battled all night with Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis, who finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.

"We were going to establish Zach," Painter. "We were going to go to him. We didn't think they had an answer for him. We wanted to go right to him. They were just fouling him and grabbing him and holding him. It's hard for those officials. They can't call every single one of them. I like to tell them that I think they can."

Edey led all scorers in this game, but his five turnovers proved costly. Mason Gillis turned the ball over three times, and eight of nine Boilermakers finished with at least one. For Painter, fixing mistakes like turnovers and free throws isn't too complicated.

"Just concentrate," Painter said. "Be tougher mentally in that first half and take care of the basketball ... I thought our concentration wasn't very good, and like I said earlier, you've got to give Indiana a lot of credit for that because they took us out of our rhythm."

It was an off shooting night for Purdue's pair of starting freshman guards, Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith. Loyer scored 12 points, but he shot 4-for-12 overall and 1-for-6 from three, below his 36.2 3-point shooting percentage entering the game. Smith scored four points on 1-for-8 shooting to go with six assists and three steals.

"[Smith] just didn't get going shooting the basketball," Painter said. "He's our best free throw shooters, and he went 2-for-4. But he's a good player. We're going to keep him."

Smith went 39 minutes without turning the ball over, but his lone mistake was a crucial one. With the clock ticking below one minute and Purdue trailing by three, he looked for Gillis in the corner, but Indiana's Race Thompson jumped in front to steal the ball. On the next possession, Indiana freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino made a layup over Edey with 25 seconds remaining to give the Hoosiers a five-point lead.

"I think at the end of the day, that one turnover cost us," Smith said. "I feel like we had it there to win it, and the one time we needed to win it I turned it over. So I've got to be better on my part and move on."

Painter said it took Purdue until halftime to recalibrate and focus, and by that time, his team faced a 15-point deficit. Purdue made a strong comeback and had chances to win this game, coming as close as 71-70 with 2:02 to play.

This game marked Indiana's second consecutive win over Purdue at Assembly Hall, as well as the second court storming from the Indiana student section.

"It's not an unfamiliar feeling. It sucks every time, but I'm kind of getting used to it I guess," Edey said. "It's a sign of respect when teams storm the court because it means they're very, very excited to beat you."

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