Purdue 70 Indiana 55: Three Keys | Final Box Score | Specialty Stats

Rapid reaction from Indiana at Purdue. Check back later for The Report Card.

The suffering continues. A once promising season is now officially spiraling out of control. Indiana lost on the road to Purdue on Saturday afternoon for their fourth straight loss.

Indiana falls to 12-6 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers will play at Northwestern on Tuesday night.

THREE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. Across the board poor shooting. You know about the free throw shooting. It was dreadful, with Indiana going 7 for 18 from the stripe and continuously crushing any hope of a rally. Ultimately, it was three players that did the “damage” at the line. Juwan Morgan, Romeo Langford and Justin Smith went a combined 1 for 11.

But it wasn’t just free throws. IU was limited to 43% overall from the field, more than seven percentage points below their season average. The real issue was from long range, where Indiana shot just 4 of 20. With Purdue double teaming Juwan Morgan and helping on dribble drives, the Hoosiers were forced to shoot jumps shots. That isn’t a strength of this team, and it will likely continue to be the game plan opponents throw at IU.

2. Turnovers back on the rise as the offense continues to sputter. It is like patching holes with this team. They had better energy on the day, but old issues like the free throws and turnovers resurfaced. While 14 turnovers isn’t a terrible number on the road, when coupled with just 12 assists it once again highlights that IU is getting very little out of its offensive sets. Too often possessions are reduced to someone making an individual play rather than production from team concepts and/or recognition of openings in the defense.

3. Romeo Langford has an off day. For a freshman, Romeo Langford has been steady all year. Not today. Two early fouls including a questionable charge call set things in motion. The New Albany native spent a good portion of the first half on the bench and struggled to get into the flow of the game. He was just 2 of 10 from the field and had three turnovers. At the free throw line, Langford seemed to be impacted by the Purdue crowd, which chanted “overrated” while he shot 0 for 4. It was a surprising day, as Langford up until now had seemed to play better on the road.