Hoosiers commit 18 turnovers in blowout

If it’s any consolation to IU fans, it will all be over soon.

In its last road game, the Hoosiers were easily defeated by rival Purdue, 74-55.

In his postgame press conference, IU coach Tom Crean emphasized the importance of being a physical team, something IU was clearly missing Wednesday.

“We’re a soft basketball team,” he said. “We’re not a physically aggressive team.”

The Boilermakers shot 49 percent from the field, including 38.5 percent from 3-point range, using 16 assists.

The Hoosiers, meanwhile, hit 39 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from long range. But the real disparity came in free-throws: Purdue had 31 attempts, making 21, while IU only shot 4-of-5. IU had 25 fouls while the Boilermakers were never in the penalty. The subsequent free-throw difference accounted for the disproportion, and it was the least amount of free throws the Hoosiers attempted all season.

Sophomore center Tom Pritchard, who has struggled all season with limiting his fouls, fouled out at the 6:17 mark in the second half, when his fellow bigs freshmen Bobby
Capobianco and Derek Elston already had four fouls each. Pritchard only played 15 minutes. Elston later fouled out at the 3:53 mark.

Senior guard Devan Dumes also had four fouls, while only one Purdue player, forward Patrick Bade, had at least three fouls.

“It was a huge deficit,” Elston said of he and Pritchard fouling out. “The hardest part was staying on the floor.”

Purdue capitalized off IU’s 18 turnovers with 22 points. The Boilermakers, meanwhile, only committed eight turnovers. The Hoosiers also only had seven assists, one block and three steals, compared to 16 assists, six blocks and seven steals for Purdue.

On Purdue’s Senior Night, guard Chris Kramer went off in his final home game at Mackey Arena. He was the team’s second-leading scorer with a season-high 18 points and had a team-high 6 assists.

Freshman guard and Bloomington native Jordan Hulls said playing in Mackey Arena was fun, despite the result.

“It was loud and crazy and intense and physical,” he said. “Coming in, you know what to expect, but once you play, it’s totally different.”