Purdue 'Lacks Concentration' at Indiana, Drops 4th Straight Game

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The halftime horn sounded and the fans at Assembly Hall were booing. After a Fletcher Loyer 3-pointer with less than 20 seconds left, No. 13 Purdue had taken a 37-25 advantage into the locker room. The momentum was dressed in black and gold.

Apparently, it decided to change its wardrobe before the second half.

Indiana came out of the break firing on all cylinders. A quick seven points cut the Purdue lead down to just five points at 37-32, less than 80 seconds into the second half. The Boilers got a tip-in from Caleb Furst out of the timeout, a moment that appeared to stop the bleeding.

That was simply a bandage on a bullet wound, though. Indiana overtook the lead at the 14:39 mark on a made basket by Luke Goode. By the time the clock reached 11:56, the Hoosiers had outscored the Boilermakers 28-3, taking a 53-40 lead.

"Just a total lack of concentration, more than anything, on our end," coach Matt Painter said. "The first play, we get them to miss defensively and they get an offensive rebound and end up getting a three. Then, we just start turning the basketball over. We had just played a half of basketball where their pressure didn't bother us at all. It was like Purdue beating Purdue."

After the barrage of buckets Indiana scored in the first nine minutes of the second half, there was no looking back. Purdue knocked down a shot here and there, but it never regained the momentum it carried into the locker room at halftime.

Indiana outscored Purdue 48-21 in the second half and secured a 73-58 win. For the Boilermakers, it was the fourth straight loss. This one, though, was perhaps the most disappointing.

"Small, minor mistakes let it snowball and we weren't tough enough to fight back," Loyer said of Purdue's second half. "When you get a lead up 12, you should win the game."

Loyer finished the game as Purdue's leading scorer, dropping in 20 points. Myles Colvin provided a spark off the bench, dropping in 11. But those were the only Boilers to exceed double figures for the game. Trey Kaufman-Renn was held to just nine points, his lowest scoring output of the year. Braden Smith had eight points and five assists.

Indiana, on the other hand, had five guys reach double figures. Malik Reneau and Trey Galloway led the way, each scoring 15. Galloway also had nine assists. Myles Rice and Oumar Ballo both added 12 and Luke Goode scored 11.

Purdue is a team that prides itself on the experience it has in the locker room. It has three starters from last year's national runner-up team back in the lineup. Senior Caleb Furst has played a lot of basketball in West Lafayette.

Yes, there are some new faces, but this is a Purdue team that has been through plenty of battles over the years. Yet, during this four-game stretch, they've really struggled with their composure.

"That's what's frustrating. We've been able to show poise, we've been able to show composure, especially on the road. Not always, I think it affects everybody at some point," Painter said. "To say we lost our composure is an understatement."

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