[Postgame 3-2-1] What We Learned From Indiana's Loss to Purdue

Here are three key stats, two observations, and one lingering question from Indiana's disappointing collapse against Purdue.

Prior to Tuesday night’s first meeting of the season between IU and Purdue, it seemed many fans and followers believed the contest would end up one of two ways.

The optimists felt Indiana could come out with a gritty win over No. 2 Purdue, so long as Mike Woodson’s squad hit open shots, stayed out of foul trouble, and rode the energy of the crowd.

On the contrary, the pessimists believed the Boilermakers could dominate if Zach Edey was his normal self, if the Hoosiers lacked high-percentage shot-taking and making, and if Xavier Johnson was not a positive factor.

To the chagrin of the home team, its fans, and any college basketball fan looking for a competitive rivalry game, the latter was the case last night.

Indiana struggled to create good shots and to knock down those that were open — even a few bunnies in the lane — and got into early foul trouble that, due to the coach’s decision, sidelined two of its best players for nearly 15 minutes.

Given Edey’s 33-point, 14-rebound performance combined with X’s 0-point, 3-foul (including a flagrant!) outing, nearly every critical aspect of the game that could go wrong, did go wrong.

Credit where credit is due, though. Purdue is an outstanding team with the reigning National Player of the Year. It took two NBA prospects and well-above-average shooting for Indiana to sweep its rivals last season, so a win in Assembly Hall was never truly a given in this case.

Still the Hoosiers now drop to 0-5 in Quad-1 games with their largest home loss against the Boilermakers since 1934. Spirits in Bloomington are low, and an NCAA Tournament bid appears to be far out of reach. It’s time for Indiana to do some soul-searching.

Here are three key stats, two observations, and one lingering question from Indiana’s blowout loss to Purdue.

Did you miss yesterday's edition of the postgame show?

3 Meaningful Stats

1. Five Hoosiers recorded two fouls in the first half.

It was not hard to predict a foul disparity in Purdue’s favor.

We knew Indiana would try to be extremely physical with Purdue, which carries risks, especially with this undisciplined IU team. And Purdue is one of the best teams in the country at limiting opposing free throw attempts.

Edey, of course, has been a foul magnet for the past two seasons. It would’ve taken a very uncharacteristic officiating job for there not to be a major discrepancy between the two teams in that category.

And that’s exactly what we saw.

Indiana had a lot of bodies to throw at the Canadian behemoth. The problem, though, was that none of those bodies were super experienced. Along with Malik Reneau, Kel’el Ware, and Payton Sparks, Trey Galloway and Gabe Cupps often found themselves attempting to contain the 7-footer in the middle of the lane.

Compared to a defensive whiz like Trayce Jackson-Davis and a workhorse like Race Thompson, who had been clashing with Edey for three years and still failed to hold him under his season averages, Cupps getting switched onto that assignment a few times went exactly how you might expect. 

Indiana kept its cool and limited mindless hacking much better in the second half. Purdue entered the bonus with just over five minutes to play when the game was almost certainly out of reach (much better than hitting the bonus near the 10-minute mark of the first half).

As expected, Purdue tripled Indiana’s free throw attempts and found its way to the charity stripe 27 times in the game to nine for Indiana. The visitors also shot almost 40% higher than the home team.

Free throws were not the deciding factor in the game. Unfortunately, the early foul trouble for two starters — Mackenzie Mgbako and Kel’el Ware — and Mike Woodson’s decision to sit them for an extended period of time, may have been.

2. Indiana opened the game on a 9-7 run and the second half on a 17-7 run. 

Both runs were about as the most ideal starts one would have hoped for, especially considering Mgbako and Galloway’s heavy involvement in the offense. However, it’s what happened after that first Hoosier outburst that made the second one all but meaningless.

As I mentioned earlier, Mgbako picked up two fouls in fewer than five minutes of game time, and Ware did the same in just about six. Woodson then benched the two for the majority of the remaining first-half minutes — Mgbako came back in at 3:33 and Ware at 2:14.

Critics, fans, the media — all of us! — have criticized Woodson for his substitution patterns. It’s not even a matter of the eye test but plain-as-day metrics showing a significant dropoff in quality of play with a combination of reserves like CJ Gunn, Payton Sparks, Anthony Walker, and Kaleb Banks on the floor together.

Tuesday’s biggest offensive drought was the result of the same story. Purdue closed out the rest of the first half with a 21-point advantage heading into the locker room and complete control of every aspect of the game. However, Woodson was much more earnest in his discussion of the loss and willingness to admit his mistakes than in recent collapses against Nebraska and Rutgers. 

"I probably should've played Mack a little more, even with the two fouls, in the first half,” he said. “That's hindsight. I hate coaching that way, or thinking back to what I should have done. I thought we came out with big-time energy the second half to cut it to nine, but when you dig a hole like that, you know, against a pretty good team, it's hard to dig your way out.”

Hopefully Woodson and Co. learn from this and adapt when similar circumstances arise in the future.

By the way, Mgbako and Ware combined for one combined foul the remainder of the game.

3. This loss marks the fifth time this season that the Hoosiers have surrendered 80 or more points.

This recurrence has been the mark of an unfortunate downhill trend over Woodson’s three-season tenure. Even when the Hoosiers did not have their most cohesive unit in 2021-22, the team was still one of the best defensive machines in the country.

Now, it’s hard to see that anyone takes much initiative or pride in holding the opponent to low scoring numbers. In fact, Indiana gave two of those 80-point outings to Wright State and Kennesaw State in Assembly Hall. Yikes.

This point ties back into the ongoing issue of a missing identity. Year one was defense. Year two was a generational duo. Year three? It’s the middle of January, and I still don’t know.

Much of that issue comes from players not meeting the lofty expectations we set for them in the offseason. But for such a historically defensive-minded program and coach, it’s pretty surprising to see such a stark drop-off in such a short amount of time.