WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — You can say many things about the Purdue student section, but you can’t say they’re not polite.
Twice in the second half — for Hoosier sophomore center Thomas Bryant and freshman forward De’Ron Davis — the fans were kind enough to show IU to the bench. “Left, right, left, right,” screeched Mackey Arena, providing both of the fouled-out players step-by-step directions back to their seats. They even facilitated the Hoosiers into their seats yelling, “Sit down” at the duo.
With 12:18 left in the game for Davis and the 5:46 mark for Bryant, the Boilermaker faithful imparted these instructions.
These recommendations derived from the Hoosier defense’s inability to stop anyone with mass on the opposition. Possession after possession, the Purdue big men — sophomore Caleb Swanigan and junior Isaac Haas — took the ball into the teeth of the defense and either put the ball in the basket or forced enough pressure to get to the free throw line.
Twenty-eight IU fouls helped lead to 33 Purdue free throws and the Boilermakers never looked back in an 86-75 win over the Hoosiers.
Crean wouldn’t talk about the free throw disparity after the game, as he didn’t want to comment on the refereeing, but his frustration was evident.
At some point, however, an abnormality becomes a trend. Big Red and the fans have complained about the sizable amount of fouls this season, but there are reasons for this development. The forwards and centers wearing crimson continually play defense with their hands instead of their feet, a problem that has plagued the team game-in and game-out. This is even more unmistakable in the later stages of every game, as the Hoosier big men are often exhausted over the final 20 minutes.
IU entered the season with depth at the forward spots, but the frontcourt unfortunately has become one of its main weaknesses.
Without sophomore forward OG Anunoby and senior forward Collin Hartman, the Hoosiers are at a dearth of bodies from the get-go in each game. This showed, especially in the second half as the onslaught continued and Crean had no genuine answer.
You can’t say he didn’t try to stop the bleeding though.
Junior forward Tim Priller played semi-meaningful minutes and scored six points while giving a bit of energy to the squad. But, even though he’s a fan favorite, Priller is not the answer to Purdue, which boasts the best frontcourt in the Big Ten.
Crean even went small in the second half, throwing together a hodgepodge lineup of wing players in James Blackmon Jr., Grant Gelon, Devonte Green, Josh Newkirk and Robert Johnson.
This lineup would probably have the best 40-yard-dash time, but once again, actual success on the court would be unfathomable.
The Hoosiers realized their fate right after the 10-minute mark. Trailing by six after a Priller bucket, they slowly but surely lost any chance of coming back. Junior guard Dakota Mathias got to the line, senior guard Spike Albrecht nailed a 3-pointer and then Swanigan made his way to the charity stripe. The small deficit the Hoosiers had cut out had now become too much to overcome.
As the game reached its fitful conclusion, the packed house assisted the Hoosiers once again, giving Crean and his squad a friendly reminder of what’s to come.
“NIT,” they chanted. “NIT.”
gigottfr@umail.iu.edu
@gott31
