Composure, a Purdue basketball staple, missing for Boilermakers as losses pile up

[ad_1]

BLOOMINGTON − Poise had become a staple of Purdue basketball.

Now, two games in a row, adding to what has become a four-game losing streak, the pivotal trait for success is lacking.

It was one thing at Michigan State on Tuesday.

And a whole other Sunday at Assembly Hall, where the Boilermakers were dismantled by their rival Indiana over the final 20 minutes, seeing a 12-point halftime lead become a 73-58 loss.

“Small minor mistakes, just let it snowball from there and we weren’t tough enough to fight back,” junior guard Fletcher Loyer said.

Just like Tuesday in East Lansing, you could read the scoreboard simply by the body language of Purdue’s players.

More: Purdue basketball’s Matt Painter has message for Indiana fan base, ‘Be supportive’

“To say we lost our composure is an understatement,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.

For the fourth time in a month, the Boilermakers lost a game they once led by double digits.

On Sunday, frustrations spilled over from the locker room to Painter’s postgame press conference, where Purdue’s head coach mentioned his two best players as culprits for an abysmal second half.

Trey Kaufman-Renn, who’d scored in double figures every game this season including at least 22 each in six straight, was held to nine.

More frustrating for Purdue was Kaufman-Renn’s decision making, mainly forcing his own offense when Indiana ran a second defender to take away his typically unstoppable array of post moves.

Braden Smith, who entered Sunday just seven assists shy of tying Purdue’s career assists record, was rattled to the tune of a plethora of early second half turnovers that helped aid Indiana erasing that lofty halftime deficit.

“We just have to get better leadership in those areas,” Painter said. “Just make simple plays. Move the basketball. If they want to take something away, whatever they give you, you just take it. It’s not a hard game.

“Make the right reads. Be fundamentally sound. Move the basketball. Trust your teammates and play the game. Obviously we…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/composure-purdue-basketball-staple-missing-003251291.html

Author : Journal & Courier

Publish date : 2025-02-24 00:32:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.