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

Posted by author February 24, 2025 Basketball

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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.

“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.

Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn, Fletcher Loyer, Braden Smith on loss to IU

Hear what Purdue players said postgame following a loss at Assembly Hall.

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 didn’t do that in the second half.”

The players responsible owned up to their shortcomings, albeit in a postgame press conference that totaled just four minutes with three players fielding questions.

“At the end of the day it’s me,” said Smith, who had six turnovers, including five in the second half. “I think I’m not making the right read and I’ve got to get on the same page with Trey and these other guys to get them the ball and I didn’t do that.”

The stat sheet for the second half, one helped immensely by some late field goals, reads 6 of 20 field goals, 11 turnovers, 14 fouls. Outscored 48-21.

As Loyer said after Sunday’s loss, “You’ve still got March and your season’s not over.”

But right now, Purdue still needs to worry about February.

Kaufman-Renn muttered in the postgame press conference he’s just ready to play Friday.

Purdue is at home against Big Ten newcomer UCLA, another game that will result in a loss if the same problems persist.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.