At the buzzer: Purdue 70, Indiana 55

  • 01/19/2019 4:08 pm in

Quick thoughts on a 70-55 loss at Purdue:

How it happened: After an embarrassing 66-51 home loss to Nebraska on Monday, the question entering Saturday’s road trip was simple. Would Indiana put up a competitive fight on the road against its arch rival? Or would the Hoosiers continue to play as if their 12-2 start was simply a mirage? Indiana was competitive in stretches on Saturday afternoon, but playing well for small periods of time simply won’t get it done in this season’s Big Ten. And after Purdue recorded just two second chance points in the first half and shot 1-for-9 on 3s, Indiana was fortunate to trail by just seven at halftime. The Boilermakers didn’t take long to seize control in the second half. Purdue needed just over two minutes to stretch its lead to 13 and by the 13:45 mark, Purdue led by 17. The lead grew to as many as 19 before Purdue closed out the double digit victory and its fifth Big Ten win.

Standout performer: Justin Smith played well early and kept IU afloat as he scored nine points on 4-for-5 shooting in 19 first half minutes. The junior finished with 15 points in 38 minutes.

Statistic that stands out: Indiana’s offense continued its anemic output as the Hoosiers scored just .87 points per possession. A big part of the struggles came at the free throw line as IU shot just 7-for-18.

Final IU individual stats:

Final tempo-free stats:

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