Purdue's quick start dooms Hoosiers

Even with one program in full-scale rebuilding mode, Saturday’s atmosphere at Mackey Arena still had the feel of a rivalry game.

The Hoosiers (6-20, 1-13) did their best to make it just that, but weren’t able to overcome an early deficit and the hot shooting of E’Twaun Moore, losing to No. 19 Purdue, 81-67.

With Moore helping Purdue get off to a quick start by scoring eight of his team’s first 11 points, the Boilers never trailed Saturday. Purdue’s Moore finished with 26 points (10-14 FG) and JaJuan Johnson added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Searching for a boost in his own line-up, IU coach Tom Crean elected to bench junior guard Devan Dumes in favor of freshman swingman Malik Story. Story finished with nine points and four assists before fouling out late in the second, but Dumes struggled to ever get it going off the bench, shooting 2-of-7 from the field and scoring only seven points.

Freshman guard Verdell Jones asserted himself on offense for the second consecutive game, leading the Hoosiers with 16 points. The inside duo of Tom Pritchard and Kyle Taber combined for 22 points and 13 rebounds.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock Saturday, the Hoosiers kept fouling and calling time outs. Purdue’s rowdy section chanted “Just go home!” - but the Hoosiers kept battling until time expired.

Purdue coach Matt Painter said after going through a similar rebuilding process three years ago, he knows Crean and his team are “tired of being (just) competitive, tired of people saying, “‘Hey, you guys played hard.’”

“You want to win,” Painter said. “You want to go out and win the game.”
– By Matt Dollinger