Boilers Embarrassed in Second Half Leads to Fourth Consecutive Loss

Purdue limping into March as they get blown out 48-21 in second half

The Boilers entered Assembly Hall losers of three straight games and needing a big victory to turn the season around as the calendar flips closer to March. Instead, the Boilers were utterly embarrassed in the second half __________ when it appeared as though they had complete control following a very good first half.

The Boilers struggled in the first half to prevent the Hoosiers from scoring inside early as they scored 16 of their first 21 point inside the paint. The offense also struggled but everything seemed to get on track halfway through after Smith went to the bench for a short breather, his first time off the floor in the first half in the B1G season. Following that, the Boilers were able to go on an impressive 21-4 run over the last 8:39 of the first half.

The run was highlighted late by Loyer’s second three where Leal inexplicably helped off to prevent a Smith drive and left the junior guard wide open. It was a highlight of a great shooting first half that saw four different Boilers sink three pointers to go 6-11 and 14-27 overall from the field. Loyer was sent laughing down the court and the Boilers took a commanding 37-25 lead into halftime.

The second half would prove to be an embarrassment the likes Purdue fans had not seen in a very long time.

The Hoosiers came out and blitzed the Boilers to start the second half which was highlighted by back to back Braden Smith turnovers that led directly to Indiana points. In fact, the Hoosiers would run up a 28-3 run in the first 8:04 of the second half, the only points coming from a Caleb Furst put back and a free throw from TKR. It was a start that doesn’t come as a surprise as the Boilers have struggled for weeks with the starts to the second halves of games, but the manner in which it came was shocking.

The Boilers just continued to do things incorrectly that have plagued them during this string of losses. They forced only 7 turnovers all game and were only able to convert those into 12 points of their own. On the flipside of that, the Boilers turned it over 16 times and that led to 23 Indiana points, replaying a trend that Purdue has seen all too often.

The lead peaked to 16 points following a four consecutive Hoosier free throws led to the score jumping to 45-61 Indiana. At that point, with just 6:16 left, there remaining very little hope for a comeback for Purdue. However, a shred of light appeared as Purdue was able to whittle the lead down to 10 with just over three minutes remaining in the game. It would quickly evaporate as the all too familiar inability to defend the same action that saw Michigan State dunk 100 times on the Boilers previously allowed Galloway to find Ballow for an alley oop that pushed the lead back to 12. The lead would eventually balloon back to 18 before the final score resting at 73-58.

It was a game that highlighted everything that Purdue can’t do and can’t allow to happen if it wants to win basketball games. Sixteen turnovers is tied for the second most this season with Braden Smith being responsible for a season high six. Many of Smith turnovers led directly to points in a game where he may have very well played one of the worst of his collegiate career. He had just 8 points on 2-8 shooting, 5 assists (just 1 after halftime), and those 6 turnovers with a -21 for the entire game. In a season that had begun to take shape as one where he looked like a lock as a first team All American, that suddenly looks very much in jeopardy as the Boilers have lost four straight and Smith appears to be laboring into March.

Alongside Smith, TKR had another game where fouls impacted him due to just blatantly bad decisions. His first foul found him jumping into the back of an IU defender on a rebound he was not close to and his fifth foul coming as he continued moving on a screen. It is something that has suddenly become the weakest of Purdue’s weaknesses as they simply don’t have any interior presence when he is off the floor. He shot just 4-11 from the field for 9 points, had 4 rebounds, and turned the ball over 3 times himself.

There were, however, some bright spots for Purdue. The bench was able to collect 11 points in the first half, led by Colvin’s 8 points. He would eventually score 11 in the game but did struggle from the field going 4-10. The bench would finish with 16 points but got only scoring from Colvin and Heide.

The other bright spot was Loyer being able to show he can score and get himself to the foul line, although he continues to shy away from taking any sort of contested three point shot. He led Purdue with 20 points and went 6-9 from the field but wasn’t able to take any threes in the second half. In fact, Purdue went just 1-5 from behind the arc in the second half, had just 1 assist, turned it over 11 times, and gave up a whopping 1.5 points per possession to a previously bad offensive Indiana team.

In total, the Hoosiers scored 44 points in the paint, had 23 points off turnovers, and led Purdue 9-5 in steals and 18-9 in assists. In short, the Hoosiers appeared to simply out Boilermaker Purdue in the second half.

The Boilers don’t get an easy game coming up as the UCLA Bruins will make their way to Mackey for the first time since the first game ever held at Mackey Arena. Purdue faces a very real possibility of losing out down the stretch, falling below the double-bye in the B1G Tourney, and dropping from what some considered to be a fringe 1 seed to a possible 7 or 8 seed.