Retooled Purdue came into this season fancying itself a team that could outscore opponents, a lot of opponents.
But back in Charleston, the Boilermakers looked like a team that could win with defense, too.
It wasn't sustainable.
When Purdue beat Maryland in Mackey Arena, a game that brought as credible a "must-win" label as there can be in December, the Boilermakers did win with defense, stifling the Terps in the game's final four minutes or so.
It, again, wasn't sustainable, another apparent turning point having come and gone for a team that's seemingly been hard-pressed to maintain success.
"We just haven't had that consistency," Coach Matt Painter said. "That's our next challenge, to build on it.
"The fact we've been able to do it in individual games shows that it's there. Now the next step is the maturity of our guys to go out and have that focus to do those things."
It gets another chance now.
