WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Same state, different city. Same song, different verse. Same result, different game.
Indiana men’s basketball had No. 10 Purdue on the ropes, leading 76-75 with less than 20 seconds remaining. Then, like five days before in a 79-78 home loss to Maryland, the Hoosiers crumbled.
Purdue junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn made a right-handed hook shot with 11 seconds remaining, and Indiana redshirt sophomore Myles Rice’s contested midrange jumper was blocked on the other end. The Boilermakers then made four free throws in the final four seconds.
And the Hoosiers (14-8, 5-6 Big Ten) saw their once-thriving hopes of delivering a stunning upset collapse in an 81-76 loss to archrival Purdue (17-5, 9-2 Big Ten) on Friday night at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette.
“It’s just about making plays down the stretch and securing the win,” Indiana head coach Mike 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.”
Indiana is a different team than it was after back-to-back 25-point losses to Iowa on Jan. 11 and Illinois on Jan. 14. At that point, each of the Hoosiers’ five losses were by 16 or more points. They couldn’t stop the snowball effect.
Now, they can. Senior forward Luke Goode said after Indiana’s 77-76 overtime win against Ohio State on Jan. 17 the Hoosiers tended to quit when they trailed by multiple possessions. Anytime the opponent punched, Indiana failed to respond.
The Hoosiers have lost three straight games since beating Ohio State, but only by a combined 15 points — a 9-point loss at Northwestern on Jan. 22 before back-to-back last-second defeats. Maryland hit a game-winning 3-pointer with seven seconds left before Indiana failed to execute on its final offensive possession.
Perhaps the story of Indiana’s season would be different if it made two more defensive stops — once in the closing seconds against Maryland and again at Purdue on Friday. But the Hoosiers can’t rewrite history.
Indiana has found ways to survive punches. It saw a 4-point halftime lead turn into a 6-point deficit less than three minutes into the second half, as Purdue enjoyed an 11-1 run out of the break. The Hoosiers trailed by 7 points with 12 minutes remaining as the Mackey Arena black-out crowd grew deafening.
And yet, they kept responding — until they faced a test they still don’t have answers to: learning how to win close games.
“The good thing is, we're in these games,” fifth-year senior guard Trey Galloway said postgame. “But we got to finish. I think just making the right plays down the stretch is the difference.”
Galloway finished with 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting off the bench. He hit a go-ahead floater with 31 seconds remaining that could’ve been the game-winner in an improbable rivalry win.
Instead, he left the floor with teary eyes.
“It's very frustrating because we're right there,” Galloway said. “And we got to keep fighting. There's a lot of games left. But to know we're right there and that close to being able to find ways to win those close games like this is definitely frustrating for all of us.”
Galloway was brief with his answers. When the press conference ended, he quickly jumped to his feet and walked out of the back door, briefly patting Indiana Athletic Director Scott Dolson’s arm before Woodson had even walked off the stage.
Among the most frustrating aspects of Galloway’s night? Perhaps not getting the chance to touch the ball on the Hoosiers’ ensuing possession after Kaufman-Renn's go-ahead shot.
Galloway scored Indiana’s final two buckets and had 13 points in the second half, 10 of which came in the paint. Purdue head coach Matt Painter said postgame Galloway made a plethora of plays with his right hand, driving downhill and finishing at the rim. Yet on the game’s most important play, the ball never left Rice’s hands, even though he hadn’t scored in 20 minutes of action.
“We were fortunate Trey Galloway didn’t have the ball in his hands at the end,” Painter said. “I mean, let’s be frank about it. He was making plays.”
Woodson said he tried — and failed — to get Rice’s attention. Unlike the last seconds against Maryland, when Rice dribbled to midcourt and called timeout, he drove to the right baseline and elevated, but to no avail. Rice also missed the Hoosiers’ final shot versus Maryland after not executing the final out-of-bounds play.
Indiana didn’t intend to have Rice on the court for the final minutes in West Lafayette, but Woodson had no choice. Fifth-year senior guard Anthony Leal, who had 6 points, five rebounds and four assists, fouled out with just under two minutes left while the score was tied at 72. Woodson said he elected to ride with the Rice-less unit because it played well, but once Leal exited, Woodson had to turn to Rice.
Aside from Rice, Woodson — and Painter — cited the Hoosiers’ 20 turnovers as a key factor in the outcome. Purdue scored 26 points off Indiana’s turnovers, and Painter noted the Hoosiers lost important possessions as a result of their inability to control the ball.
But ultimately, Purdue made more plays in the final two minutes. For Indiana, it marked further proof that it has turned the page on past blowouts — but can’t quite get through the chapter on finishing.
“I thought the effort was there,” Galloway said. “We fought through a bunch of runs, but I think just continuing to keep competing was the main thing. Just a few plays that we got to clean up and that was the difference in the outcome.”
Indiana can take solace in its competitive outing. The Hoosiers were 12-point underdogs entering Mackey Arena and lacked momentum after their loss to Maryland, but Woodson’s squad never quit.
Still, five days removed from heartbreak, the Hoosiers found themselves in the same spot once more: wanting the final seconds back.
“For the most part, I thought our guys competed, did a hell of a job,” Woodson said. “But it’s about winning in this league.”
And Indiana, to save its now-spiraling season, needs to figure out how to do so when it matters most.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa) and columnist Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
