Five things to remember after Indiana’s defeat at Purdue – Inside the Hall…
Indiana lost 87-66 to Purdue on Tuesday night in Assembly Hall, a deficit of 21 points. The Hoosiers fell to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in Big Ten play after the defeat. Five lessons can be learned from the Boilermakers’ defeat.: The decision by Mike Woodson to automatically bench Kel’el Ware and Mackenzie Mgbako after two fouls in the first half backfired. The players were benched for an excessive amount of time.
Indiana chose to continue with Xavier Johnson as their point guard for a third consecutive season last spring rather than acquiring portal guard assistance.
Johnson can not control his injuries, but his performance and demeanor on the court have been disappointing.
Against Purdue, the sixth-year guard—among the oldest players in college basketball—was flagrantly fouled for the second time in three games.
Johnson has only had one productive game for Indiana in five since his return on January 3 versus Nebraska. In IU’s last four games, he has combined for four points, six assists, and eleven turnovers. On January 6, he scored eighteen points in a victory over Ohio State.
Johnson played against Purdue on Tuesday, clocking 19 minutes while going 0 for 5 from the field. He had three fouls, no assists, a blocked shot, two thefts, two turnovers, and two rebounds.
Zach Edey appears to be well on his way to repeat as national player of the year.
The 7-foot-4 center’s dominance over Indiana on Tuesday night only served to bolster his argument.
Edey finished with a game-high 33 points on 11 of 23 field goals and 11 of 12 free throws made from the charity stripe. In 36 minutes, he pulled down 14 rebounds.
Edey only hauled down two offensive rebounds, so Indiana did a respectable job of preventing him from doing so, but whenever he got position in the post, he made the Hoosiers pay.
