'You Can't Beat Yourself': Turnovers Plague Purdue in Big Ten Tournament Title Loss

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — More often than not this season, when Purdue basketball loses the team feels as though it's because it beat itself.

After winning back-to-back games in the Big Ten Tournament and advancing to the finals, the Boilermakers stood in their own way and struggled to keep control of the basketball.

The team gave the ball to the Hawkeyes 17 times, which tied a season-high, in a 75-66 loss Sunday. Sophomore guard Jaden Ivey accounted for five despite putting up a team-high 20 points.

"I think we tried to do too much today, sometimes we do that," Ivey said. "We just try to make flashy passes or just not make the right reads. What’s going to help us down the road is just trying to keep things simple as a team, and play together.”

Purdue never found itself with the lead in the first half of play. And as the game got to within one point, it gave the ball away seven times in the span of four minutes, ending south of the halfway point in the period.

However, the Hawkeyes failed to capitalize on the mistakes, recording just six points off nine first-half turnovers by the Boilermakers.

Five of the seven turnovers in that brutal stretch ended in empty possessions for Iowa. Coming down the other end of the floor, Purdue watched as three of its opponent's jumpers were off the mark.

On a pair of plays in the open court, Isaiah Thompson collected a steal after a poor pass from Trevion Williams, and Brandon Newman rejected a shot attempt that went in the Boilermakers' favor. Their effort helped the team trail just 35-32 at halftime.

“We were so fortunate to be down three at half," Purdue coach Matt Painter said after the game. "And we had nine turnovers, they had one. I don’t care what the rebounds are like, they got eight more cracks at it right there. So I felt we were in a great position, but we didn’t take advantage of it.”

In the days prior to the Big Ten Tournament title matchup, Iowa torched Northwestern to the tune of 112 points and knocked down 14 shots from the 3-point line against Indiana.

The Hawkeyes are one of the most efficient offenses in the conference, right alongside the Boilermakers. But the two teams combined to shoot 13-of-48 on 3-pointers. They each shot below 50% from the floor for the game, and Iowa only attempted two more shots than Purdue.

Thanks to double-doubles from Williams and Zach Edey, Purdue even ended the contest with a 48-30 rebounding advantage. But it piled on the mistakes in the second half with another eight turnovers.

It was a stark difference after having 10 turnovers against Penn State on Friday and just nine against Michigan State on Saturday. And it proved too much for this team to have to compete against itself and Iowa at the same time.

"If we take care of the basketball and handle the glass the way we did, you win the basketball game. And we didn’t do that," Painter said. "It was right there for us. And obviously, I always say this, but it’s my perspective because I’m coaching Purdue’s team.

"You can’t beat yourself, and just because you took care of the ball against Penn State, you took care of the ball against Michigan State, doesn’t mean you’re going to take care of the ball against Iowa.”

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