What Purdue Basketball's Players Said Following Loss to Indiana at Assembly Hall

No. 1 Purdue basketball lost to No. 21 Indiana 79-74 on the road Saturday at Assembly Hall. Zach Edey, Braden Smith and David Jenkins Jr. addressed the media after the game to discuss what went wrong.

D.J. Fezler | Feb 4, 2023

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Purdue Boilermakers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Following a 79-74 loss on the road Saturday to rival Indiana, Purdue basketball players Zach Edey, David Jenkins Jr. and Braden Smith addressed the media to discuss the team's defeat.

The Boilermakers turned the ball over 16 times in the matchup, including 11 in the first half. Edey notched a game-high 33 points and came down with 18 rebounds.

Here's everything they had to say after the game, with the complete transcript and video of their postgame press conference included:

On the differences in the first and second halves

Edey: I think in the first half, the environment kind of shocked some of us. I think we played harder in the second half and made the right reads in the second half. I feel like they outworked us in the first half, and that was the story of the game.

We couldn't come back in the second half even though I feel like we played well in the second half. I'm proud of the way we played.

On Braden Smith's one turnover being among 16 for the game

Smith: Definitely, turnovers suck. Obviously, it just leads to their offense. I think, at the end of the day, that one turnover cost us. I feel like we had it there with a chance to win it. And the one time we needed it to win, I turned it over. Something I need to be better at on my part and move on.

On what Braden Smith saw on his turnover along the baseline

Smith: Well, the play right before that, I saw Mason [Gillis] in the corner. He was wide open, and he was there open again for a split second. I just held onto it for too long and he got there.

Edey: Just to clarify, that was one play. Obviously in a big moment, but every play is big in a game like this. I had too many turnovers in the first half. I didn't come out with the energy I needed.

Obviously, that's a big play and people might look at that, but you can point out three or four plays by everyone that could have made up that one possession. So it's not just on him, it's on the entire team.

On that statement being the lesson to take away from the loss

Edey: Yeah, whenever you lose in close games, obviously you look at every possession. You look at how you could have done better. I got in foul trouble in the first half. I feel like I could have played more, I could have affected the game more in the first half if I hadn't done that.

I have to be more disciplined, I have to be smarter. Obviously, when you win by one possession it feels great, but when you lose by one possession it feels awful. But both games, it's just one possession. That's the story of the game.

On the team's bench players contributing offensively

Jenkins: It's a sense of urgency at the end of the day. We knew that we had to come out in the first five minutes in the second half and really come out and throw the first punch. And that's from the starters all the way to the bench, we all knew that.

I just wanted to make sure whoever came out in the starting group, we weren't missing a beat. And I kind of make sure I spread that word to the whole bench really. But I felt like in the second half we did pick it up.

Obviously, it was a big gap to fill, so it's hard to kind of play catch up.

On making sure the team learns from the loss

Jenkins: We don't lose, we just learn at the end of the day, man. To piggyback what Zach said, Braden threw a turnover at the end of the game, but that doesn't mean anything. We didn't lose off that one possession.

Even when I got in, in the first half, I should have dribbled all the way down to Trey [Kaufman-Renn] and I threw a turnover in the post. There are a lot of things we could say, pinpoint certain things.

But I just liked how we handled adversity at the end of the day, we came back and responded in the second half. And we're going to respond to this loss as well going into these next few games. And we'll be ready for them when they came back to Mackey.

On adjusting to lack of concentration resulting in turnovers

Jenkins: Usually, when you throw a turnover it is a lack of concentration. Obviously, there are certain times in the game where it could be accidental. But at the end of the day, when you throw a turnover, you're locked in that much more and you don't want to do that same thing.

Like I said, when I threw a turnover in the post, I made sure I dribbled all the way down to get it in. But I think one thing we could have worked on too is we could have froze their hands to throw it into the post a little more because they were kind of jumping our passes when we would throw it in.

Turnovers happen, but we'll learn from them and we'll be better next game.

On the rivalry between Indiana and Purdue

Jenkins: I mean, I'm new to the rivalry, but obviously you could tell how intense it was. They came out ready to go, and I don’t think we came out as ready as they did. We’re going to learn from this at the end of the day. No matter what, we’re going to be ready for them when they come to Mackey.

And we're going to make sure we practice and do the same things we usually do. But we know if we play harder than any team, we can compete with the best of them.

On what Purdue can learn for its next meeting with Indiana

Smith: Just all around, like they said, just the turnovers. I think that was what screwed us the most. They had more possession than we did. I think at the end of the day, if we take care of the ball and get it to where it needs to be, we’ll be really successful. So kind of just focus on that.

On how it feels when the fans storm the court

Edey: I'm used to it by now. Every game I've lost in the last two years, I've got the court stormed besides the two at home, obviously. It's not an unfamiliar feeling. It sucks every single time, but I'm kind of getting used to it I guess.

Obviously, you don't want to lose an away game. You want to keep winning away games. We've done a pretty good job of that, for the most part, this season. But it's a sign of respect when the teams storm the court because that means they're very, very excited to beat you.

Jenkins: To touch on that, it's going to be fuel to our fire.

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