Five takeaways from Indiana’s loss at Purdue
In a competitive back-and-forth game that neither team led by more than seven points, Indiana fell 81-76 to Purdue on Friday night at Mackey Arena. The loss dropped the Hoosiers to 14-8 overall and 5-6 in Big Ten games.
Here are five takeaways from the loss to the Boilermakers:
Indiana’s turnovers led to 26 points for Purdue
A hot shooting effort from Indiana – 56.6 percent from the field – wasn’t enough to overcome its inability to take care of the ball.
The Hoosiers committed 20 turnovers in Friday’s loss and had a turnover percentage of 29. It was Indiana’s most turnovers since its 89-61 loss to Louisville on Nov. 27 at the Battle 4 Atlantis. In that loss, the Hoosiers had 23 turnovers and a turnover percentage of 31.9.
Indiana’s 20 mistakes helped fuel the Purdue offense. The Boilermakers scored 26 points off of turnovers, a major reason why Purdue scored 81 points despite shooting just 2-for-13 on 3s.
“I thought that was the big key tonight,” Mike Woodson told Don Fischer postgame. “You go out on the road, you can’t turn it over. And we had 20 of them that led to 26 points for them. I thought that was the difference in the game.”
Seven different Hoosiers had a turnover in the loss, including six by Trey Galloway, four by Anthony Leal and three by Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo.
Mackenzie Mgbako shines with a game-high 25 points
In his best offensive performance of the season, Mackenzie Mgbako exploited mismatches repeatedly for a game-high 25 points.
Mgbako was 10-for-17 from the field and was 3-for-8 on 3s. He made both of his free throw attempts, grabbed five rebounds and had just one turnover in 36 minutes.
After a four-game stretch in which he scored 16 total points, Mgbako is averaging 20.3 points in losses to Northwestern, Maryland and Purdue.
His most impressive sequence came in the second half when he blocked a Fletcher Loyer layup attempt and then sprinted to the other end to get set up on the left side of the floor. Mgbako took a pass from Galloway and nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 58.
Mgbako is 8-for-20 from distance over the last three games.
Trey Galloway, Luke Goode provide a major spark off the bench
Trey Galloway and Luke Goode have plenty of experience starting games this season for Indiana.
But with Malik Reneau back and Woodson opting to go with Anthony Leal in the backourt, Galloway and Goode have shifted to reserves who play starter-level minutes.
Goode was pivotal in the first half of Friday’s loss. The Fort Wayne native scored all of his 13 points in the opening 20 minutes, nailing three 3-pointers.
Goode went cold in the second half, but Galloway, sporting a new haircut, became a go-to guy.
The fifth-year senior from Culver Academies scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half. He was 6-for-8 from the field in the second half and Matt Painter said postgame that the Boilermakers were fortunate he didn’t get the ball when the Hoosiers had possession with 11 seconds left, trailing by one.
“We were just fortunate Trey Galloway didn’t have the ball in his hands at the end there,” Painter said. “I mean, let’s just be frank about it.”
Despite adversity, Indiana is continuing to fight
Indiana’s 14-8 overall record and lack of signature wins have the Hoosiers on track to miss the NCAA tournament for a second consecutive season.
After blowout losses to Iowa and Illinois, Indiana looked like it may allow the season to spiral out of control.
However, the Hoosiers have continued to fight over the last four games. After beating Ohio State in overtime on Jan. 17, they have now lost three straight by an average of just five points.
Indiana is playing better as of late but hasn’t made enough plays in key situations to get wins.
“Again, it’s just about making plays down the stretch and securing the win,” Woodson said postgame. “We didn’t do it in the Maryland game, and tonight we had our chances. I mean, we couldn’t get the key stops. Kaufman hits a 15-foot hook shot that was huge for them, and then we didn’t capitalize coming back the other way.”
Wins and losses ultimately define seasons. Despite a 1-5 record in its last six games, if the Hoosiers continue to show the fight exhibited against Maryland and Purdue and find a way to execute better down the stretch, hard-fought losses will turn into hard-fought wins.
For the second straight game, Hoosiers can’t make a key play in crunch time
Indiana faced a raucous atmosphere in Mackey Arena head-on and was in position to win the game despite the turnovers and poor free-throw shooting.
But the Hoosiers simply couldn’t convert in crunch time for a second straight game.
On Sunday, Indiana’s confusion on a late-game baseline out-of-bounds play produced a heavily contested look from Myles Rice that fell short from the left corner.
And on Friday, Rice again had the ball in his hands coming up the floor at a pivotal time. This time, Indiana opted not to call a timeout and Rice drove towards Purdue’s Gicarri Harris, who blocked his shot.
“Couldn’t get his attention,” Woodson said afterward on the play. “And about the time he got where he was going – I thought he got fouled on the play, but they didn’t make the call.”
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Luke Goode, Mackenzie Mgbako, Purdue Boilermakers, Trey Galloway