It’s been said the hardest thing in sports is to beat the same team multiple times in the same season. The Purdue basketball team found that out the hard way Saturday, losing 76-75 to Wisconsin (22-12) in the semi-finals of the Big Ten Tournament. It marked the first time Purdue (29-4) suffered a loss against an AP ranked team this season.
After picking up the regular season sweep against the Badgers, Purdue saw Wisconsin come back from a late deficit in the closing seconds of the second half and then saw Max Klesmit hit a floater in the closing seconds of overtime for the win.
Purdue had a chance to end the game with under a minute left in overtime. Holding onto a 75-74 lead, Purdue basketball’s Braden Smith turned the ball over when he was whistled for an offensive foul. With just over 21 seconds left, the Badgers took over and Klesmit what would be the game winner. Purdue’s Lance Jones fired off a three pointer at the buzzer that went way left, prompting the Badgers to celebrate.
Turnovers doom Boilers
As has been the case in all four losses, turnovers proved to get the best of Purdue in the semi-final. The Boilermakers turned it over 16 times for 15 Wisconsin points.
“Obviously, it was a hard fought game. I thought we did a great job in the second half and overtime of rebounding the basketball. I thought the big stat of the game was our magic number, if we have 14, 15, 16, 17 turnovers. I know we have four losses, but all four losses that number is right in there. We have to do a better job across the board of taking care of the basketball,” Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter said.
Perhaps, very early on, Purdue should have known it may be a long day as big man Zach Edey was whistled for a foul and then a technical foul in the first two minutes of the contest. Edey would spend a considerable amount of the first half on the bench, but the Boilermakers were able to head to the locker room tied 36-36 with the Badgers.
Purdue basketball now turns attention to NCAA Tournament
With the loss, the top seeded Purdue basketball team will have an extra day of rest and recovery ahead of next week’s NCAA Tournament, something that was not lost on Painter, who said the loss could be a “silver lining.”
“Hope that is the silver lining. You get more rest, get back at a decent hour, watch the show tomorrow and get ready to play on Thursday or Friday. We have a good group. We have a good team. We will respond from it and we are looking forward to playing in the NCAA Tournament,” Painter said.
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