'Take care of the basketball' Turnovers costly in top-ranked Purdue basketball's loss to No. 21 Indiana

BLOOMINGTON – The worst 20 minutes was followed by 20 minutes that nearly gave Purdue an impressive come-from-behind victory.

Trailing by as many as 16 points after an awful first half, the top-ranked Boilermakers turned a blowout into a sprint to the end. The 21^st-ranked Hoosiers reached the finish line first, posting a 79-74 victory at Assembly Hall.

Purdue saw its nine-game winning streak snapped and its lead in the Big Ten standings shrink to two games in the loss column with seven to play. Indiana’s students stormed the court following the final buzzer, a scene the Boilermakers have witnessed plenty during the last two years.

“I’m used to it by now.,” center Zach Edey said. “Every game I’ve lost the last two years I’ve had the court stormed, besides the two at home. It’s not an unfamiliar feeling; it sucks every single time. I’m getting used to it, I guess.

“You don’t want to lose an away game, you want to keep winning away games and we’ve done a pretty good job of that this season. It’s a sign of respect when they storm the court. That means they’re very excited to beat you.”

Saturday was the first of two meetings between the in-state rivals. The rematch is Feb. 25 in Mackey Arena.

“It’s going to add fuel to our fire,” reserve guard David Jenkins Jr. said.

Following the dismal first 20 minutes, the Boilermakers (22-2, 11-2) eliminated the turnovers, found their shooting from 3-point range and toughened up on defense to make it a game.

Edey’s layup at the 5:40 mark brought Purdue within 67-65 and Braden Smith’s lay-in cut the margin to 71-70 with under two minutes to play.

Edey finished with 33 points and 18 rebounds and Fletcher Loyer added 12 points.

Trayce Jackson-Davis had 25 points and seven rebounds to lead Indiana to its first win over a No. 1 team since 2013. Freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino added 16 points, including key baskets in the second half as the Boilermakers were making their charge. The Hoosiers became the first team to score at least 71 points against Purdue this season.

The Hoosiers posted 50 points in the first half, holding a 15-point lead.

PDF: Stats

‘TAKE CARE OF THE BASKETBALL’

It’s easy to pinpoint where Saturday’s game unraveled.

Turnovers. You can also look at missed free throws in the first half but the carelessness on offense was the No. 1 reason the Boilermakers lost at Assembly Hall for the second straight year.

Last season, Purdue had 10 first-half turnovers. Although the Boilermakers came back and took the lead in that game, they lost on a last-second shot.

“We can’t repeat that. Let somebody beat you a different way,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “Keep giving yourself a chance and take care of the basketball.”

The turnovers led to 20 points for the Hoosiers, who feasted in transition with several fastbreak points, including dunks by Jackson-Davis. However, the 16 turnovers weren’t a season high. Purdue had 18 against West Virginia in November and won that game.

Eight of the nine players committed at least one turnover. Edey had a team-high five, a significant number in a close game. Smith didn’t shoot well but handled Indiana’s pressure defense and collected three steals but finished with one turnover.

“Definitely turnovers suck and obviously it leads to their offense,” Smith said. “But I think at the end of the day, I think that one turnover cost us. I thought we had it there to win it and I turned it over. I’ve got to be better on my part.”

Smith’s lone turnover came with 53 seconds on the clock and the Boilermakers down 73-70. Smith drove the baseline underneath the basket and saw Mason Gillis open in the corner.

“The play before I saw Mason in the corner – he was wide open,” said Smith, who had six assists. “He was there open again for a split second. I just held onto it for too long.

Edey was quick to defend his freshman point guard and didn’t want last year’s Indiana Mr. Basketball to shoulder the burden of Saturday’s loss. Smith has played solid this season and is one reason why the Boilermakers have been ranked No. 1 and lead the Big Ten.

“That was one play in a big moment but every play is big in a game like this,” Edey said. “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. You can point to three, four plays by everyone that could’ve made up for that one possession.”

Edey is certainly correct, knowing all of the mistakes, lack of concentration and defensive breakdowns contributed to this loss instead of what happened at the end.

“We didn’t lose off that one possession,” Jenkins said. “I like 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.”

BENCH FUELS SECOND-HALF SURGE

The Boilermakers had their share of open looks from the perimeter in the second half but came up empty on a handful possession after cutting the lead to single digits.

But it wasn’t until Jenkins and Brandon Newman made three 3-pointers during a nearly two-minute stretch to put serious pressure on the Hoosiers. The duo made 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

“We’re a better shooting team than 6 of 18,” Painter said, referring to his team’s 3-point shooting. “We’re a better shooting team than 10 for 17 (free throws).”

Purdue was coming off a game where it made 14 3-pointers, including nine by Gillis, against Penn State. But the Boilermakers faced a different type of defense Saturday compared to the Nittany Lions.

Painter’s team had a better start to the second half. Purdue had trimmed a 15-point deficit to nine during the first four minutes.

“We knew we had to come out the first five minutes in the second half and come out throw the first punch. We all knew that,” Jenkins said. “I wanted to make sure who came out with the starting group we weren’t missing a beat. I was spreading that word throughout the whole bench.”

‘THEY OUTWORKED US IN THE FIRST HALF’

It was shocking to see one of Painter’s teams allow 50 points in the first half.

“You give Indiana credit for it but just when you’re giving up 50 points, they were playing in transition,” Painter said. “Make them score in the halfcourt. Even though Trayce was finding his way, keep making them do that.”

The Boilermakers were never comfortable in the first half, leading to the onslaught of points by the Hoosiers.

“The first half, the environment kind of shocked some of us,” Edey said. “I think we played harder in the second half. We made the right reads in the second half, but they outworked us in the first half and we couldn’t come back in the second half. I thought we played pretty well in the second half and I’m proud of how we played.”

Turnovers and missed shooting opportunities on the perimeter played a big factor in the loss, but the Boilermakers outrebounded Indiana 38-22 and Edey’s monster double double gave them a chance.

“You outrebound somebody by 16 and you’ve got somebody who gets 33 and 18, you should win the game,” Painter said. “That should’ve been ours. Give them credit – they made more plays down the stretch.”