Purdue basketball needs ‘better resolve’ to get past mental breaks to salvage season

BLOOMINGTON — Purdue basketball’s mid-season stumble continued Tuesday night, and it might have carried Big Ten championship contention along with it.

The No. 12 Boilermakers’ urgency kicked in too late at Indiana. The Hoosiers’ 72-67 victory boosted the NCAA tournament hopes of a team starting to jell.

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Purdue’s third straight loss symbolized a team trying to glue itself back together.

A loss at UCLA on Jan. 20 could be excused as “one of those things” — a last-second Big Ten road setback against a well-coached team of talented underachievers. Saturday’s home loss to Illinois required a singular performance which might stand as the opposing scoring record until they take a wrecking ball to Mackey Arena.

Tuesday’s loss, though, brought the Boilermakers to a crossroads. Evidence of championship potential exists. Ask the Alabama team it beat in Tuscaloosa. Ask the Texas Tech team it stomped in the Bahamas. Ask the Auburn team it scorched at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

That Purdue has faded, replaced by a disconnected, fragmented version of its earlier self. Matt Painter said before the season this team represented his best chance to win a national championship. He talked Tuesday like a coach watching that potential be squandered in real time.

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“We’ve got to find some guys that will do it for 40 minutes,” Painter said. “… We’ve got to have some guys with better resolve to be able to counter that, and we didn’t. It’s part of competition.”

Purdue’s defense ‘mental breaks’ at IU

Good teams talk about being connected on defense. Purdue players used that phrase to describe themselves quite recently.

This team, though, has splintered defensively — struggling to communicate, follow its core principles and transfer the scouting report to the court. It showed up in the final minutes against both UCLA and Illinois. It showed up throughout Tuesday’s loss.

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For instance, Painter said the scouting report on Conor Enright simply…

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Publish date : 2026-01-28 09:51:00

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