WATCH: Purdue Coach Matt Painter Reacts to 79-71 Loss to Indiana

Purdue basketball head coach Matt Painter addressed the media following the team's disappointing home loss to in-state rival Indiana on Saturday night at Mackey Arena.
In this story:

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — No. 5 Purdue basketball lost to No. 17 Indiana 79-71 on Saturday night at Mackey Arena, marking the first time the Boilermakers have been swept by their in-state rival since 2013. 

Junior center Zach Edey scored 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting and was 10-of-14 from the free-throw line in the matchup, but the team shot just 34.9 percent from the floor compared to 50.8 percent by the Hoosiers. 

Purdue went 5 for 23 from the 3-point line for the game, two of which came during the final 20 seconds when the game was already out of reach. 

"A majority of our shots I thought were pretty good shots," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "If you're just going to just take [Edey] out of the equation and double him, then you're going to get wide-open shots. You have to step up and make them. Tonight, we didn't make them.

"But I believe in our guys. I believe in their ability to shoot the basketball and step into wide-open shots and be able to make them. We just have to be better, we didn't have anyone on our team trying to miss." 

Indiana was paced by freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, who registered a game-high 35 points on 14-of-24 shooting. He had 23 before halftime to counteract a scoreless first half from star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. 

It was Hood-Schifino's highest scoring total of the season and his fifth straight game scoring in double figures. 

"He's got a bright future," Painter said. "Because guys that can do that consistently — make tough shots and distribute and make his team better — there's not many guys like that out there." 

Purdue basketball has now lost four of its last six games with two games remaining in the regular season. The team is 24-5 and 13-5 in Big Ten play, holding a 1.5-game lead atop the conference standings heading into Sunday's games. 

"People can dissect you, but people can't tell you how you feel," Painter said. "They have no idea what you sacrifice and what you do to try to have a good program. They have no idea what the players do. 

"We've got a bunch of players in there that are heartbroken, they're disappointed. But someone stuck it to us, take it. You have to sit in it. If you're going to do something about it, you have to sit in it and you have to be honest with yourself." 

-----

Related Stories on Purdue Basketball

  • Purdue Falls Flat in Second Half Against Indiana: Despite holding Trayce Jackson-Davis scoreless in the first half, Purdue led Indiana by just four points at halftime. The Hoosiers dominated the second half and stole a 79-71 win Saturday inside Mackey Arena. CLICK HERE
  • What the Players Said Following Loss to Indiana: Purdue basketball players Caleb Furst, Zach Edey and Brandon Newman addressed the media following the team's disappointing loss to Indiana at Mackey Arena. CLICK HERE 
  • Purdue, Indiana Live Blog: No. 5 Purdue basketball hosted No. 17 Indiana inside Mackey Arena on Saturday night for the second installment of their bitter in-state rivalry. CLICK HERE

-----

Keep up to date on everything at BoilermakersCountry.com by liking and following our Facebook page: Purdue Boilermakers on Sports Illustrated/FanNation.


Published
D.J. Fezler
D.J. FEZLER

D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.