My Two Cents: Once Again, Purdue Digs Too Big of a Hole on the Road
PISCATAWAY. N.J. — Next verse, same as the first. And the second, third, fourth and now fifth. That tune — that very bad tune — gets stuck in your head, and it won't go away.
Purdue went on the road Tuesday to take on a very good Rutgers team, and once again the Boilermakers found themselves down early by double-digits. They rallied late, but came up short in a 70-63 loss to the Scarlet Knights before a sold-out and rowdy crowd at the Rutgers Athletic Center.
That's five Big Ten road games now, and five losses. That's bad. But what's even worse is that the same script just keeps playing over and over. Purdue makes too many turnovers early, their opponent gets out in transition too often to make easy baskets, and they expend every last bit of energy just trying to catch up, only to fall short.
It's an auto-play nightmare.
"You don't get rewarded for having a good fight,'' Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "We keep digging these big holes early and then we're trying to fight getting back from 13-14 points and that's become a pattern on the road. It gets to be too much.''
Look at holes they've dug in this first five Big Ten road games ....
- Nebraska 70, Purdue 56: At Nebraska, the Boilermakers opened in a 12-2 hole, got it all back and then went in another funk to trail by 11 at halftime to one of the two teams in the Big Ten with an overall losing record. They pulled within three points midway through the second half, but couldn't finish.
- Illinois 63, Purdue 37: At Illinois, the Boilers had their worst shooting night ever in the blowout loss. It was 11-1 out of the gate and Purdue didn't make their first field goal for nearly seven minutes. They were never in it.
- Michigan 84, Purdue 78, 2 OT: At Michigan, neither team led by more than five points the entire game until the second overtime, when the Wolverines pulled away. It was Purdue's best road performance — Trevion Williams had 36 points and 20 rebounds — and it still wasn't enough to get a win.
- Maryland 57, Purdue 50: At Maryland, Purdue was in an immediate 9-0 hole and didn't score for the first 4 1/2 minutes. It was 20-4 and one point and the Boilers were down 16 at the half. Again, Purdue scraped back and got within three points late, but didn't have enough energy left to close out the deal.
- Rutgers 70, Purdue 63: And now, at Rutgers, the same thing again. They gave up runs of 11-0 and 18-7 in the first half to fall behind by 16. They were within one possession late again — down three with 19 seconds to go — but could pull it out.
Rinse and repeat.
"Give them credit, they forced us into 11 turnovers (in the first half),'' Painter said. "They were really good on that one run, where it seemed like they were getting everything in transition. At halftime, you're sitting there and they're up 12 and they've scored 14 points in transition and we've had zero, you can't win that way. The game's too hard
"You can't turn it over 18 times and shoot 6-for-22 from 3 and not getting to the free throw line and expect to beat a good team on the road. We've got to be better.''
At some point, Purdue needs to stop the bleeding on the road, or they won't be playing in the postseason. Their NCAA Tournament resume is very top heavy. They have good wins — mostly notably Virginia and Michigan State, who were ranked in the top-5 when Purdue beat them both by 29 points — but they also have a sack full of losses.
At 11-10, Purdue has entered the danger zone. They have 10 regular-season games remaining, and they probably have to go 6-4 at worst and then win a Big Ten Tournament game or two just to make the NCAA Tournament field. The magic number for wins, somehow and someway, is probably 19, or maybe 18 if they're lucky.
"There are things that go against you on the road, but you've got to fight through that,'' Painter said. "It's not easy, and this is a very hard place to play, but you've got to find a way.''
The Boilers have been great at Mackey Arena, but the five remaining home games there include three ranked teams (Iowa, Penn State, Rutgers), plus Indiana and Michigan, which are no gimmies.
So that means Purdue has to start winning some road games, and that starts Saturday at Northwestern. The Wildcats are last in the league, so Purdue simply cannot let that one slip away.
Because if they do, then we really have to wonder if Purdue can finish with a winning record overall or not, and that would be a disaster if they don't, because then that means no NIT Tournament, either.
This team, quite simply, has to get better on the road and find a way to win a few games. They're certainly capable, but they just haven't shown it yet. Not once.
"You just grab the silver lining and try to win the next one,'' Painter said. "Obviously, we're in a very competitive league. We just have to be better.''
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